Double Knotted
by siriuslybritish
Summary: It's Emileigha against Serendipitous and Nargle-filled Hogwarts as she enters her 5th year of school. Lucky for her, her best friend Lily is there to go through it all with her...Well, most of it, at least. Somehow, trouble seems to be tied to Emileigha...worst of all, it's Double Knotted. Rated T just incase. Read on for a splendid time and lots of laughs! Enjoy!
1. That's Weird!

Chapter One-

"Hey, Remus?" I whispered, kneeling down beside my brother's bed. He slowly opned his eyes and looked at me sleepily.

"What?" He asked.

"If you don't get up now, we're going to be late…" I said above a whisper. I tried to be gentle, since that was definitely the right way to wake someone, but I was just so excited.

Remus jumped out of bed, suddenly wide awake. He was always excited about Hogwarts- but I bet I was way more excited than him. He raced to his closet and threw lots of random stuff onto his bed. No matter what it what was that he randomly threw out, it always matched- which totally surprised me. Remus had that nice definite style of shabby-smart.

"Uhm…Emi? Could you leave the room while I change?" he asked. I was busy looking at his bookshelves. We both had four or five big bookshelves in our rooms, which were actually like libraries with beds. My room was my favorite in the house, because it had a balcony that over-looked the lake we lived on, and the huge forest behind it.

"Only if I can borrow the last Sherlock Holmes book in the series." I said, smiling.

"Yeah, sure- go ahead. Thanks for getting me up." he replied.

"No problem, bro! Thanks." I said happily, stepping out of his room and closing the door behind me. That book was the only one I didn't have in the series.

Anyways- back to my house. My house- or Our house, I should say- is an old 20th century mansion that's been passed down from my dad's side of the family. It still has most of the original furniture in it, even-and that's pretty cool to me, since the house is that old. There are eight rooms, not counting the bathrooms or the attic and the basement. Dad, Remus, and me each have a bathroom to ourselves, and there's another bathroom downstairs with Dad's. Our windows are about seven feet tall and maybe two feet wide. Our floors are made of walnut(wood), with a wax finish. We have ornate mantles in the den, basement, attic and living room. Those are my favorite things about the house, really! I also like the little stuff too: In my room and the living room, there's a wall covered with portraits from the 1700's-1800's. There are shelves all around the house, covered with books. The halls are covered with pictures of the family. I love this house so much.

I walked into my room and put the Sherlock book in my trunk, which was full of other good books, a picture of my mum, lots of shoes, textbooks, quills, ink bottles, rools of parchment, and jewelry. Meanwhile, I had a suitcase for my clothes and extra stuff.

I re-tied the belt around my fluffy grey bathrobe and looked in the mirror.

-I was the only one in my family that had copper-colored hair. Make that burnt copper-colored hair... a little darker than what the shiny American penny looks to be. My hair's insanely curly and when I leave it natural it comes a little above my elbows. When I starighten it, it reaches my elbows. Honestly, I have no idea where I get my hair from, since my dad had dirty-blonde hair, and my mum had light-brown hair, both straight. I gte my far-set, greenish grey eyes from my mum and her family. My lashes were naturally long, but curl them and use mascara anyways. My mum had a full top lip rather than a full bototm lip like msot people do, whcih I did inherit from her. Lily calls them rosebud lips. Unlike the majority of the girls at my school, I had no tan. I wasn't as white as a ghost, but I was _not_ tan. My mum had a few freckles, but her tan over took them because of the garden she tended to. I tend to the garden now, and instead of a tan, I get freckles. It kind of ebarasses me, because my freckels are kind of unproportionate. One side of my face has quite a few more freckles than the other. I'm only 5'3'', which I also get from my mum;s side of the family.

-It was only normal that Remus had sandy-brown hair, a mix of Mum's and Dad's. However, his was wavy, so it's kind of like he got half a dose of curly (unlike me, who must have gotten like eight doses). Remus didn't really have to do much with his hair, just run a comb through it once or twice, because it had that natural good hair thing. Lucky boy. Remus didn't have any freckles or anything, just like Dad. And I was the odd one out apparently, because everyone else in the family had a decent tan- especially Remus, since he spends a lot of time outside. Oh well. Remus had big, bright golden-brown eyes, which were kind of far-set. He had long lashes and skinny lips. He looked more like Dad- I mean, they've been mistaken as brothers a few times(which makes dad seem really young). Also like Dad, Remus was really tall at 5'9'' and a half, at least.

I walked into my closet and put my Ravenclaw uniform on, which consisted of a black pleated skirt and a white button-up shirt with my Ravenclaw badge sewed onto it. My robes were still folded neatly in my suitcase, and Lily and I normally changed about 15 minutes away from Hogwarts, on the train. I grabbed my tie, which was flat on my vanity, and buttoned it around my shirt collar. I slipped my blue flats on, which I had to first retrieve from under my bed. I know you're supposed to wear black flats or some kind of black shoes, but I like to be different. Besides, blue and purple are Ravenclaw colours, so why does it even matter?

I quickly flattened the creases in my pleated skirt, getting that anxious feeling that sort of makes you want tom throw up, and zipped up my suitcase. I sat it outside my door. I left my door open, because I would have to get Dad to 'accio' my trunk downstairs, and so would Remus. It sucks that we can't use magic outside of school, but I guess I understand. I bet lots of students wouldn't use their magic for good purposes…like Sirius Black and James Potter, two of my brother's best friends, sometimes mine. Those two were always pranking someone, and if they had any muggle neighbors…Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they woke up one morning to find that their hair was yellow or purple or something. Once, Lily Evans, my best friend, accidently walked into a prank that had been set up for Sirius' younger brother by James and Sirius…she had bubble-gum pink hair for a week…

After a second look at my now straightened hair while in my bathroom, I heard Remus bounce down the staircase. I quickly walked out of my room and raced down the stairs to Dad's room. I actually found him making pancakes and being his usual energetic self, humming "Bewitch' by a band he liked when he was, quote, "Remus' age".

Dad was a wizard architect, so Remus and I didn't get to see him as often as we wanted. Work was busy for him, but when he was home it was like Remus and I lived with the world's biggest party. Dad had always cracked the jokes one after another ever since he could speak, and I have proof from our Grandmother to prove it! Dad's job was pretty fascinating, and it must have been fun. He even set out the base for a few newer sections of the ministry of magic.

He was a good dad, yeah, but...Well, every man has their fault. But that's all another story.

"Good morning, children of mine! Who's hungry?" Dad asked happily, flipping a pancake onto a plate. He sat one plate down in the middle of our set table, which was holding a tall stack of pancakes drenched in syrup.

"Me!" Remus said, jumping into a chair. I sat beside him and took a few pieces of crispy bacon.

"You're always hungry, Remus." I asked, going all television news-reporter on him. Remus gave a sheepish smile.

"I _do_ have to stay taller than a short little someone, of course."

"Oh? Do tell how short your imaginary girlfriend is, then."

"No, I was talking about you."

"Hey! I'm not short. I...Uhm…You're just freakishly tall!"

"Emileigha, I'm only an inch taller than what I should be."

"So?"

"Exactly. You're very short."

I rolled my eyes and smiled, then threw a piece of bacon at him. He caught it and then took a bite.

"Is it a food-fight you want?" Remus asked, throwing the bacon at me this time. I ducked just in time, while Dad, who was oblivious to the situation, sat a pitcher of orange juice on the table. I poured a glass as fast as possible, guzzled it, and then skipped (literally, skipped) up to my room after another piece of bacon. I dragged my suitcase down the stairs, listening to the 'thud' it made every time it hit a stair. I sat it in the den, beside the front door. I could hear Dad and Remus putting dishes and the sink, and then Dad would probably use magic to wash them.

Now that I was really wide awake, I was super excited for Hogwarts!

5th year, here I come!

Going back to Hogwarts meant that I would see my best friend, Lily Evans, and all my other friends! Lily and I always compared how we had changed from one year to another, or over one summer if we had changed at all. For instance, I think I got a rad taller and my hair has grown from my mid-shoulders to a bit above my elbows.

Lily and I have had lots of good times and adventures.

We do a few mischievous things, like the four-person group my brother is in: The Marauders. Sometimes we play a few pranks on clueless first years and other unsuspecting people, but we normally sneak out at night and explore places like the forbidden forest, or even Hogsmede. In 2nd year, we found a tree house a bit of a way into the forest, beside the black lake, and we go there a lot-just to chill and hang out. Luckily, it's surrounded by these tall rocks, so there's extra privacy. And then, there's the ultimate life-giving source Lily and I will worship until the very end of our lives: Chocolate. We worship- yes, worship- it every hour of every day. We would go to some deep measures for that addicting deliciousness.

"Dad, can you accio our trunks to the den?" I asked, as Dad walked into the den.

"Accio Hogwarts trunks!" dad said smartly. Both of our trunks landed neatly beside my suitcase, stacked on top of each other.

"Thanks." I grinned, giving Dad a high-five.

"No problem, Emileigha. Remus, son? Are you ready?" Dad asked smiling.

"Yeah, you bet. Here, you left this, Emi." Remus said, handing me my brown cross-body bag. He also held a Sherlock Holmes book- totally from my shelf.

"Thanks, bro." I smiled, as Remus nodded.

"Alright, do we have everything we need?" Dad asked.

"Yup." Remus replied. I grabbed the handle of my suitcase.

"Uh-huh!" I clicked my tongue. Dad opened the door.

"Let us go then. To space, and beyond." Dad walked out using 'Wingardium-Leviosa' to get our trunks.

"Lady's first, Remus. Go on." I teased. Remus rolled his eyes and shoved me out the door, then closed and locked it behind him. We walked down the steps to our styling black SUV. Even though I consider black vans and SUV's like a kidnapper's car or something, I have to love it.

"So, fifth year begins for my children…" Dad said, breaking the silence, while driving down the road. "Who's excited?"

"Oh, yeah! The librarian said I could be 'Junior Librarian Assistant' with her this year. Finally get to do more than just shelving books! Oh, and she said you can come too, Emi." Remus said quickly and excitedly. Dad chuckled and smiled proudly.

"Sure! And quidditch starts up again! A few people told me that I had quite a few votes dor Vice Captain, so that's something to look into. Plus, I get to see Lily!" I said. We finally entered London (we lived in the less-populated, country-like part of London). It's actually pretty busy on a regular day, but today it was super busy and full of traffic. There's no telling how many Hogwarts students are in some of those cars…And boy, does that make you think…

"And Sirius, too…" Remus whispered, leaning over to me and nudging me. I narrowed my eyes at him, as Dad pulled into the parking lot of King's Cross Station.

"LILY! HOGWARTS! HONEYDUKES!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumping out of the SUV with my suitcase. I ran to the brick barrier that took you to Platform 9 and 3/4, as all the muggles standing around looked at me as if I had a Giraffe standing over me. I stood there for a minute, just until everyone looked away or walked away and then ran through, I kept running to a bench that was closest to the back entrance of the train, which is where Lily and I always met. Dad and Remus walked over, panting, and out of breath.

"Gosh, Emi, aren't you excited?" Dad panted sarcastically, then smiled.

"Geez…You should have seen the looks those muggles were giving you… They think your crazed, I know it." Remus chuckled. I laughed and stretched.

"All in a day's j-" I was cut off as someone jumped on top of me, tackling me to the ground.

"LILY!" I screamed happily.

"EMI!" Lily screamed back, then laughed. She got up off of me and helped me up.

"Whoa, I thought you cracked a rib for a second." I said, rubbing my side. She laughed. "I missed you, Lily-bug!"

"I missed you too, Emi! Hey Remus, Hi, Mr. Lupin." Lily exclaimed. Lily didn't care to act stupid around people, unless they were strangers of course. (We take Stranger Danger very seriously.) We both gave each other a tight bear hug, then let go before we both suffocated.

"Ready to board the train-" I started.

"And talk non-stop? Yup." Lily finished.

"Okay. Did you say bye to your parents?"

"Yeah. Petunia is still mad at me. Boy, can she hold a grudge." Lily muttered under her breath, running a hand through her hair. I half-smiled.

"Well, bye, Dad. I'll see you Christmas break. I love you!" I exclaimed, hugging my Dad as tight as I could. He gave me a hug back, kneeling down to my height.

"I love you too, Emileigha. I'm proud of you, you know? Have a good year…and no boys aloud." He whispered, as I raised my eyebrows, then he chuckled and stood back up. I smiled at him, and then he kissed my forehead. "Bye."

"Bye, Dad!" I laughed with my suitcase behind me, walking to the train with Lily. Remus caught up a few seconds later, and he told me that he and Dad had already put our trunks in the cargo section, like usual. He raced ahead of us and got on the train, then we trailed behind him.

The marauders had a distinct compartment- the very last one, on the left. We took the one directly beside that every year (but, hey, we had ours first- we didn't choose to sit by them).

Lily and I sat down in the compartment after I put my suitcase on the overhead rack. We were sitting opposite sides of each other, and immediately started talking like mad.

"Did you cut your hair differently, Lily-bug?" I asked curiously. This was the time to compare.

"Yeah, I'm glad you noticed!" she smiled. "I just got it cut last weekend, Sunday."

"Layers look great with you!" I complimented.

"Thanks! I see that your hair got longer." Lily said. We have hawk-eyes; super, super hawk-eyes.

"Yeah! And I think I got a little taller!" I exclaimed happily. Height was a big deal at Hogwarts, because ever guy dated a tall girl. Sure, dad said no boys, but I can still like them, right? And they can like me, too?

"That's great!" Lily said, as we both fist bumped. Lily was now an inch taller than me, for sure. I am so short. "But I'm still taller than you."

"But only imagine the future, Miss Evans." I said smartly, stroking my imaginary beard, which came to my waist. Lily snorted.

"Ah,yes, I will still be taller than you, Miss Lupin." She said, stroking her imaginary beard, too.

"My beard is better, because it comes to my waist." I said, pretending to slde my hnds down my beards full length.

"That's weird." she said.

"Dumbledore's beard comes to_ his_ waist." I said.

"True…" Lily said, twisting her imaginary mustache around her finger.

Lily and I talked and talked and talked, until the train made it to Hogwarts. Luckily, we weren't disturbed by the Marauders…Until the carriage ride from Hogsmede…

A/N- Review, Favorite, and Follow! :)


	2. Dont let the Nargles bite!

A/N- Here's chapter two! Enjoy, enjoy!

Chapter Two-

Lily and I hopped into the first carriage we saw as fast as we could, looking for the Marauders.

"I think they're on another carr-" Lily started.

"Hello, Em! Don't you look ravishing?" Sirius Black exclaimed. We both turned around quickly.

"Hey there, Lily-pad! I missed you over the summer! You never replied to any of my letters, so I got pretty worried." James Potter said sweetly. Lily huffed.

"Actually, Potter, I wrote you a letter back after the ten thousand I got from you."

"It was mean, and I thought Petunia wrote it, because she was jealous that you got me- a devilishly handsome fifteen year-old quidditch star. You wrote me that? Godric." James said, eyes wide.

"Well, it was nice talking with you." I said, almost stepping out of the moving carriage. Remus grabbed me and slung me into the empty seat beside Peter and himself.

"Nope…" Remus said, getting my Sherlock Holmes book out and turning to the middle of it. He must have read a lot on the train…me and Lily were too busy talking to read. But hey, there was so much to talk about. Like boys, and clothes, and other boys, and chocolate.

"Hi Emileigha…" Peter said quietly, not making eye contact with me.

Peter was always shy and really quiet. He seemed like a good guy; someone who could keep secrets pretty well. He was always nice to me, and to everyone else, and I can't imagine him being mean.

Remus was the perfect brother for me. He was always nice, and we never really got in fights, unless it was over me and my potential liking of a boy. He was always too protective over me, but I gotta love him for it.

James was nice, just extremely arrogant. He was madly in love with Lily, but she always shot him down- of course, he never _stayed_ down. He asked her out every single day, and kept on, no matter what she said in return.

Sirius was like my very own James Potter. Our 'relationship' included teasing each other, massive amounts of goofy flirting, and friendship. He asked me out every day, and every hour- non-stop, and then later he'd be my good friend, and soon enough he'd just be flirting. Sirius was obsessed with me, and I think everyone else in Hogwarts knew.

"Hey Peter. How are you?" I asked, as Lily slowly sat in the empty seat in front of me. She sighed as James went on and on about how pretty she was.

"Go out with me, Evans?" I heard James ask. Sirius was grinning and encouraging Lily to date him.

"Uh…good, good…How about you?" Peter asked slowly, glancing over at me from the corner of his eye. I tried not to laugh as Sirius pulled a face, looking over at me.

"I'm good." I smiled at Peter, holding in the laugh. Sirius grinned over at me.

"Ah, showing your lovely smile off, love?" Sirius smirked.

"Not for you, darling." I said flatly. 'Love' and 'Darling' were the words we used for each other, mostly as a tease. Sirius rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Then who else?" he back fired, crossing his arms. James and Lily were still bickering over dating and all. They could do this all day, I bet.

"Anyone; anyone but you." I replied, raising my eyebrows.

"Sure, I bet." Sirius muttered.

"James Potter, I will not go out with you! Understood?" Lily said, standing up. James shrunk in his seat and nodded. She walked to Peter. "Get out of the seat, Peter."

"Wha-What?" Peter said, shrinking just like James. I ran a hand through my hair. Lily's face was as red as her hair.

"Get. Out. Of. Your. Seat." Lily said, almost screaming. Peter jumped out of the seat and went to the one Lily had left. I heard Peter whisper something about being scared and James gulped. That's my Lily. After that little mess, I assumed Lily was taking up how everyone had changed.

-Lily had fiery red hair that came to her shoulders, which complimented her eyes. It was naturally straight and it was cut in sweet layers. She had big emerald green eyes that weren't really far-set, and she wore some type of mascara that really looked great on her. She had a full bottom lip to go along. Unlike me, Lily had a nice tan going on- all thanks to summer. Sadly, that would fade away after a few weeks at Hogwarts, like always. A patch of freckles dotted over her nose and her cheeks, and she was at least an inch or two taller than me (As is everyone else.). I know Lily had inherited most of her looks from her Dad, since he had auburn-brown hair, and her Mum has light brown hair. Petunia, Lily's sister, looked like her Mum. Lily was a muggle born, and I was a half-blood, so we knew the hardships in a magic life with blood status.

-James had messy chestnut-brown hair that never was that neat. Like Remus, it managed to look appealing on him and the girls swooned over him. He wore round spectacle glasses, which made you immediately notice his light brown eyes. James was muscular- but not creepy bulgy muscular- and really tall. I bet he was 5'10'' at the most. James was a pureblood, and super arrogant, who loved quidditch. He was lean with thin lips and he looked like any other plain boy, but somehow he was different. I always kind of liked James- not like like, but the other like- because he was kind of sweet. He really cared about Lily, and I actually think she likes him back. That will be the greatest start of a prank in the history of history. Anyways, James and Sirius had been causing trouble since they met…There's no telling what will happen this year.

-Sirius had loose black curls that he usually left alone or sometimes sleeked back. I think he might wake up with perfect hair. He had dark, stormy grey eyes and perfectly chiseled lips. He had the slightest splash of freckles, though you couldn't easily tell that eh had any, and he was around the same height as James, if not a little taller. He was very lean, since he played on the Gryffindor quidditch team, which James coached. Sirius was a pureblood, though he hated his family more than anything, because they were obsessed with being of higher status. Every single girl in school swooned over him, and I can't say that I never thought he was cute. Sirius and I had a weird relationship. Sometimes we were friends, sometimes we acted like we were more than friends, and sometimes, depending on who screwed up, we were enemies. We talked to each other way more than expected, and everyone had the idea that we were, in fact, 'hopelessly head-over-heels for each other', as a first year once said.

-Peter was taller than Lily, at 5'6''. He had dark chocolate-brown eyes and dirty-blonde hair that was always combed neatly to the side. Peter was somewhat muscular, and he had a full bottom lip. As I said earlier, Peter was always shy and really quiet. He got super nervous around me and Lily, plus every other girl in Hogwarts- including staff. Peter never talked to me that much, so I don't really know much about him. He's a nice guy, though.

"Oh, come on, Evans. One date with James would change your life." Sirius urged with a smirk. I looked at him and he gave me a wink, and then turned away_._

"Shut your trap, Black. Why don't you date him? One date with James would change your life." Lily fired back. I smiled at first, but I couldn't contain it- I busted out laughing. Lily joined in after a few seconds, and then Remus was laughing with us, too. Peter kept quiet, probably still scared of Lily. James and Sirius shook their heads.

"I would, but that's your job. And plus, I have a girlfriend." Sirius said, being snooty. Lily and I stopped laughing, and looked at him. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Who?" Lily asked. Sirius flipped his hair and pointed to me.

"The gorgeous quidditch player beside you, with the beautiful hair. Go out with me, Emileigha?" Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows. Lily snorted and started laughing again, after kicking Sirius in the shin.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because even though she's in love with you, she's afraid to admit it." James joined in.

"Because she loves you too much to get the right words." Lily added.

"Because she's in love with someone else." Peter laughed.

"Are you?" James asked hopefully. Aw, he's worried about his best friend?

"No…I hope not." I said.

"Why do you hope not? Do you _want_ to be in love with Sirius?" Lily asked, eyes widening.

"No, I mean I wouldn't know if I was if I hoped so."

"I am so bloody confused." Sirius said. "Are you my girlfriend or not?"

"Nope. Come on Lily, let's go- I want to watch nervous first years get sorted." I said.

"I want to pick out the cutest ones." Lily added.

"I'm the cutest!" Sirius called.

Lily and I jumped out of our carriage that had stopped at the front of the Hogwarts gates. We walked inside laughing and a few people looked at us like we were idiots. We walked to Gryffindor table, trying to spot out Alice and Marlene, our two friends who normally shared a dorm with Lily. Marlene made a big deal out of everything and either did a mix between a physical boat signal and the hippogriff dance move to get our attention, even though we were walking towards her.

-Marlene had curly raven-black hair that came to her shoulders and big brown eyes, while Alice had light brown hair that came to her chin and matching-coloured eyes. Alice was about 5'7'' and Marlene was 5'9''. They were both tan with skinny lips.

We sat down in front of Marlene and Alice, so we could look at the first years being sorted and all. It was still another twenty minutes until then, though.

"Hey Alice, hey Marlene." Lily greeted.

"Hi Lily! Hi Emi!" Alice and Marlene replied.

"Hey girls! How was summer?"

"It was pretty awesome. I did a lot of shopping." Marlene said smugly. She was known as the half-friend between Lily and me, because she was normally considered a drama queen and she cared more about her Prada purse than her Mum. "Got lots of cool stuff! Even the newest Prada clutch!"

_And so the serendipity begins._

"I went camping five too many times with Frank. Both of our families went, and, boy, were we both sick of them. It was S'mores and Campfire songs every single night." Alice said slowly. She looked really tired. Frank walked over from the other side of the table and sat down beside her. Pretty soon, they were in their own cute little Frank-and-Alice world. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"What'd you do over summer, besides hang out with your brother, Emi?" Marlene asked. That sounded mean, but she had better intentions. I got her to admit that she likes Remus last year, so I understand.

"I had a few shopping trips, studied a lot, read some awesome books, and practiced quidditch." I replied plaintively. Marlene furrowed her eyebrows for a second then looked at Lily.

"I just hung out at home and studied with Sev a few times." Lily said , shrugging. I guess we all had a somewhat boring summer, then.

"So you guys had a bummer summer, then?" Marlene asked, dumbing everything down. Lily snorted.

"You might have." She replied. I'll admit it, girls get prissy. Marlene vs. Lily was an example.

"I was just asking." Marlene said, being snobby, and cocking a brow.

"You're rude, Marlene." Lily said. Marlene huffed.

"Well...You're super rude, Lily!" She exclaimed loudly, getting up and walking to the other side of the table to sit with her other friends. Lily didn't really do anything though...

"She got burned…" Lily giggled turning towards me.

"Yes she did!" James agreed, suddenly beside us. Miss McGonagall walked onto the stage thing carrying a stool and the sorting hat. Lily rolled her eyes and whined.  
"Lily-bug, I better go to the Ravenclaw table. Will you survive with…the marauders?" I asked, going soap-opera style. She pretended to sob and nodded. I got up, winking at Sirius who grinned back in return, and walked to the Ravenclaw table. I looked for Xeno Lovegood, a Ravenclaw friend, also my very distant cousin, and sat beside him when I found him.

"Hey X, how was summer?"

"Hello, Emi! It was good. I discovered biting gnomes in my garden, and I found a nargle under my bed! That's what was taking my shoes, apparently. Those things get rather annoying after you realize that your favorite converse shoes are gone." Xeno replied in a day-dreaming voice, looking around. We were faced towards Miss McGonagall, who got everyone's attention for sorting. Xeno and I didn't bother to listen to anyone's name, but I was keeping my eye out for adorable first years. I heard Lily 'Aw' in unison with me a bunch of times. After a while of sorting and clapping (Did I mention that Ravenclaw got eight new people?), Professor Dumbledore walked up and stood at his podium with a cheery smile.

"Hello, friends from another year, and new students. I welcome you to yet another year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I would like to set out a few rules, before we begin the feast. As I say every year, the Forbidden forest is off-limits what so ever." Dumbledore looked at Sirius and James. "We will all try to make to new friends and, please, keep the 'pranking' down a bit. I believe Madame Pomfrey is tired of mending broken noses and Professor McGonagall is tired of getting this ever-lasting pink hair dye out of younger students' hair. Thank–you. Now then, I invite you to Dig In!"

Everyone cheered, and Xeno piled his plate with chicken and creamed potatoes, peas, rolls, carrots, turkey, apple sauce, and macaroni. I raised my eyebrows as he shoved an entire roll in his mouth.

"Wow, you were hungry, huh?"

"Oh yes, the Nargle under my bed took my porridge this morning. I only had a few bites when I noticed it was gone."

"Those Nargles seem like buggers," I said. "How do you find them?"

"Good question." Xeno swallowed, "You set a fresh new pair of shoes out in the open and wait for one to see them. After that, I suggest getting a net ready. Once they realize they've seen you, it gets a little scary. The one under my bed, I named him Arnold by the way, he broke my Mum's new lamp. It was a mess." Xeno swallowed a whole piece of turkey and then a spoon full of macaroni. I was wondering how he hadn't choked yet…

"Gosh…Did you get in trouble for it?"

"Yes, Yes I did. I tried to tell my Mum, but she wouldn't believe me for the world. She always tells me to quit making up silly stories. One day, I'll have some believers. I can count you as one, right?"

"Oh yes, definitely! You could have your own book series of magazine or something!" I exclaimed, getting a piece of turkey and some mashed potatoes. We both took a few bites; well Xeno had some swallows, in dead silence. Xeno took a huge gulp of pumpkin juice and poured me some.

"That would be grand… But anyway, how was your summer? I nearly forgot to ask; those Nargles stirred me up so much."

"Oh, no problem. It was good. I mostly read and practiced quidditch. It was nice. We should have wrote to each other, though." I said.

"Ah, yes. We should have. I heard that quite a few people on the quidditch team want you as Vice-Captain, and even Captain." He said, finishing his food, just as I did. Everyone was starting to leave, but Lily and the Marauders were still talking. He poured another glass of juice for us.

"Yeah, I heard too." I giggled, "I don't think I would make a good Captain though…"

"Well I think you would. You're a good sport, and you know how to handle everything. Just remember, you have to conquer what's stopping you in life." Xeno smiled. I smiled back.

"You're a good friend, Xeno. I'm glad to have you."

"Thanks, you too, Emi… Well, I better be off to bed now; Arnold kept me up late last night, he made a ruckus under my bed indeed." Xeno smiled, and left. I yawned and walked over to Gryffindor table where Lily was sitting. It was almost empty now that everyone was going to bed.

"I'm back, Lily!" I said, making a ta-da pose. I sat down beside her. "Did Marlene ever come back?"

"No. I'm sure she's mad at me. And I get to share a dorm with her this year- woohoo. Alice got the dorm next over, and it's a four person-room. Ours is a three-person, and Samantha Creery's in, too." Lily stated flatly. Rolling her eyes.

"Well, I only got one dorm mate in a three-person room. Do you want to sleep in there?"

"What will I do when I get up in the morning, though?" James exclaimed as Sirius laughed and looked up at me.

"Who's your dorm mate, love?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Jenna Forwent. I don't really know much about her- just that she's really quiet." I replied normally, smiling.

"Yeah, I'd like that better. Thanks, Emi! Will you carry me up to Ravenclaw tower?" Lily joked, yawning. It was around eight o'clock by now.

"Remus has to carry me up there, too, then." I laughed. "Let's go."

"Night, love. Sweet dreams." Sirius said as we started walking towards Gryffindor tower.

"Good night, darling! Sleep tight..." I said mockingly, blowing a kiss. Sirius pretended to catch it and slapped his hand to his heart. I quickly turned around and laughed. "Don't let the Nargles bite!"

Lily ran and changed into her pajama's, got her uniform, brushed her teeth, and we walked up to Ravenclaw tower, into my dorm. We waved to Jenna and said goodnight, then we went to bed…after an hour or two of talking…

A/N- Rate, Comment, Favourite!(:


	3. The Prefect Plan!

A/N- Here's chapter three! Enjoy, and thanks for reading! (:

Chapter Three-

Lily and I woke up to a ticking noise, almost at the same time.

"What is that?" Lily asked, stretching and yawning. She hung her feet over the extra bed she slept in for a moment, before getting up. I yawned and put my hands behind my head, still under the warm covers. It felt good to be in bed. In a second, though, I'd have to get up and unpack my stuff.

"I don't know…is it a-" I was cut off by the loud screech of an old-fashioned alarm clock. I jumped out of bed, and Jenna, my dorm mate, immediately opened her eyes and sat up. I looked at her, and she smiled at me, then got up and went into the bathroom. I growled…I guess no one understands the wake-up rules.  Never surprise a sleepy person with a loud noise.

"Seriously?" Lily whined. I shook my head. Great, now we were cranky.

"I know right? Well, I'm going to take a shower…I'll be out in, like, fifteen minutes. Happy Sunday." I said, grabbing my grey bathrobe, a bra, and a pair of panties.

"Ok. I'm going to sit here, then." Lily said sleepily, yawning again. I walked into the bathroom and did bathroom stuff, as in taking a shower. Ten minutes later, I had my bathrobe on and I was brushing my teeth. After I brushed my hair, I walked out of the bathroom and unzipped my suitcase. Lily, already having her things together for her shower, stepped in next and kept the morning function going.

I pulled out a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and a pink tank top that said 'Love to be Free' in purple on it, from a store in Mag-chic, the ultimate Witches and Wizards mall. I slipped on a pair of purple flip-flops.

"Lily, come on! I'm hungry!" I exclaimed, pulling my hair into a thick, neat bun.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Lily said patiently, trying to fasten her neon pink tie that went with her white blue tank top and dark-wash jeans. "Ties are bloody buggers…"

"I would help you, but it'd look weird. Why don't you just leave it unbuttoned? You could look gangster for a change." I said suggestively. Lily was anything but gangster, and I don't think she'd like it.

"I guess I'll have to, unless you'd care to tell me how to do this?" Lily asked questionably. I laughed.

"No thanks, I'm good. Let James tie it." I said, walking down the Ravenclaw Common Room stairs. A group of first year boys were staring at us, probably because there was a Gryffindor in Ravenclaw Tower. I nodded at them, and they all blushed and huddled in the corner again.

"No! Definitely not! I'll bite him if he comes near me."

"I dare you to."

"Deal."

Lily and I walked to the Great Hall in silence, both thinking about Lily biting James. I should have brung my camera, just in case. Every time I thought about Lily biting James, I smiled. I mean, it doesn't seem funny at first, but when you really think about it…

As soon as we walked into the Great Hall, Sirius and James greeted us from Gryffindor table. We walked over, and I sat beside Sirius. Lily sat beside me, also beside Alice, so she would be farther away from James.

"Morning, Love. Did you sleep well?" Sirius asked me, smirking.

"Yes, yes I did. Did you?" I asked back, grinning. James laughed, and Remus stabbed a sausage with his fork.

"Me too. And I know you were worried, but don't be- those Nargles didn't bite." Sirius winked, chuckling. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he pretended to look surprised. "Watch it, love, I'll bite you."

"I'll bite you back." I said slyly. He laughed, and slid his arm around my waist. "I'm about to bite you first, actually." Sirius put his hand sup in defense and turned to talk to James.

"Lily, we get our Schedules today, right?" I asked, just as Miss McGonagall walked in with a large deck of cards. "Oh, I spoke too soon…"

Lily laughed and ran a hand through her hair.

"What if we don't get any classes together, Emi?"

"We'll die, Lily, we'll die."

"You two are worrying about getting classes together? Please." Darcy Chang, Daniel Chang's sister, said while passing by.

"Crap her, we're best friends." Lily said, snapping, as I nodded in agreement. The Marauders all laughed, except Remus, who was reading over his schedule.

"Witch, please!" I said tagging along. Lily snorted and started laughing, and I smiled.

"Ah, Miss Lupin, here's your schedule. Headmaster Dumbledore requests that you stop by his office this afternoon, after classes. Have a good day." Miss McGonagall said. She gave Lily her schedule next, then James and Peter, then Sirius.

My schedule read:

Emileigha Jayne Lupin~

Advanced Potions: 7:05-7:55

Advanced Transfiguration: 8:00-8:57

Muggle Studies: 9:02-10:00

History of Magic: 10:05-11:00

Divination: 11:05-12:00

Lunch: 12:03-12:33

Herbology: 12:35-1:05

Defense against the Dark Arts: 1:05-2:05

Ancient Ruins: 2:08-2:50

Charms: 2:53-3:47

Arithmancy: 3:50-4:25 on Tuesdays and Thursdays only

Astronomy: every Friday at Midnight

"Wow, that's a lot of classes for this year, huh?" Lily asked, looking over her own schedule. I nodded. "Shall we compare?"

"Yup. Cross your fingers, Lily-bug." I said, crossing my fingers. Lily and I held our schedules together and checked each line; giving a nod of approval to each one we had the same.

"YES!" Lily and I screamed in unison, as half of the Great Hall jumped and looked at us. After a few seconds, everyone shrugged and continued eating their

"Oh yeah; every class together! High five, Lily-Bug!" I exclaimed, high-fiving Lily.

"My turn, my turn!" Sirius said, as I handed him my schedule. Uh-oh…Considering how serendipitous this school is…

"Fist bump, James! We got all the same classes with Lily and Em." Sirius said, fist bumping with James. Sirius handed me my schedule, and they both looked at us. "Aren't you happy, Em?"

I smiled and flicked Sirius knee as hard as I could, while he laughed.

"Very." I laughed. I leaned over "Hey, what time are you supposed to go for the quidditch meet, James?"

"Uhm…around one, I think." James replied.

"What time is it?" I asked again.

"It's almost nine, love." Sirius replied.

"You know Gryffindor is going to beat Ravenclaw, right? We are definitely going to win the Quidditch Cup this year." James said competitively. Lily laughed and snorted at the same time, somehow.

"Oh yeah! The Quidditch Cup is ours." Sirius claimed.

"Bring it." I said, cocking a brow.

"Hah. So a few Ravenclaw quidditch players told me they wanted you as Captain. Are you going to be captain on the team?"

"I doubt it. I mean, I'm not that good. Maybe Vice-Captain, at the most." I said hopefully.

"Emileigha, you're a quidditch star, just like us! You could totally be Captain! You're by far the best on the team…but don't tell everyone I said that, because I don't want the common room painted blue. And purple…" James said, motioning to Sirius and the Ravenclaw table.

"I agree! You have some nice moves, Em. You'd make the perfect captain. That reminds me, did you get a prefect badge or something?"

"Oh, yeah- I totally forgot about that. I did, and so did Lily. Now we can report you both to Miss McGonagall next time you prank me or Lily…"

"We have your brother to sort us out of those messes. Somehow he can talk to old ladies perfectly, but he can't talk crap with the birds in Hogwarts." Sirius said smartly, glancing at Remus.

"And plus, we just gave you some major compliments, that happen to be very true. There's no way you could report us after those!"

"Never underestimate a Prefect, boys. We're like Sharpies: Sharp, hard to get rid of after they've got you, and never underestimated."

"I see." Sirius said, nodding his head. I nodded too, and James raised his eyebrows.

"But seriously, we're going to beat the Ravens." James said flatly.

"What makes you think that, James? It must be something good, for that big of a dream."

"We have an awesome team. It's as simple as that. Ravenclaw is just full of smart people."

"And that, dear Jameson, is why we have won the Quidditch cup since third year and Gryffindor hasn't since first." I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, yeah- stupid Hufflepuffs and their little Pizazz. They're too peppy for me…annoying as well." Sirius said, rolling his eyes and then smirking.

"Well, good luck, Raven." James smiled, slapping Sirius' shoulder and turning it into a pat.

"Good luck, Lion. You're going to need it." I said, laughing.

"What are we going to do today, Emi? Sunday's aren't fun enough, so let's make them more fun." Lily said, messing with her tie again.

"Here, let me help you, Lily." Alice said from behind Lily. Lily turned around and let Alice fold her tie, as a second year walked by, staring at them.

"Oh…Kay…" he said, walking faster. I tried to tell Lily it would look weird, but she obviously didn't believe me. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Alice. I've been messing with it all morning." Lily turned back around.

"Err…we could hang out by the black lake, if you want."

"Hey James, why don't we marauders hang out by the tree beside the black lake today?" Sirius said loudly, trying to get our attention.

"Okay, sounds fun. Let's sit on the opposite side of the tree by the black lake, though." Lily said, mocking Sirius. He and James laughed.

"Alright, then. Oh, and there's a prefect's meet today too, right Remus?" I asked. Remus looked over at me and nodded.

"Yeah, it's at noon. I'm pretty sure it won't affect the Quidditch meet."

"I doubt it will. Anyways, that's something to do. Anything else we can do?" I asked Lily.

"Not that I can think of. Can we go now? James is still staring at me, and it's getting creepy." Lily whispered. I nodded and we got up and went outside. It was sunny today, but cloudy with a breeze too. We sat on the dock, which was opposite sided from the tree the Marauders were going to.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Emi?" Lily asked.

"Boys?" I smirked.

"Most definitely. Do you have a crush on anyone right now?" she asked.

"How about you go first? Who do you like?"

"I know you wouldn't tell a soul, and this might shock you, but…I think I might like…James."

I pretended to have a heart attack and grab my chest, and then immediately quit.

"Kind of obvious, Lily-bug." I laughed.

"What? How?"

"There is no way you can think a person is that horrible and despicable, Lily."

"Huh…well, who do you like then? Can I guess?"

"Sure…"

"Sirius Black, Gilderoy Lockhart, Xeno Lovegood, and Daniel Chang?"

"What? No. Xeno is my cousin, Gilderoy is a freak, and Daniel is also a freak…"

"Gilderoy and Daniel are shockingly beautiful, Emi. And that only leaves…Sirius."

"Yeah- but, it's a kind-of-sort-of thing. I think he can be a nice guy, but there are some faults. He's really arrogant and all…I almost hate him. It's crazy."

"I feel your pain. I think Sirius just does that to show off- maybe he thinks it makes him look better or something? We both know he likes you, so why don't you ask him out?"

"I feel like Remus would kill me and Sirius both."

"Oh my…That might be a problem. We'll devise a plan. A plan in which you shall flirt your butt off. Alright?"

"Thanks, Lily-bug- I owe you one. I could talk to James, you know..."

"Deal. Let's shake on it." Lily and I shook hands and we spent the hours between nine and twelve talking and devising a plan to get this boy system working. When it was twelve, we walked back to the castle and met in the Room of Requirement for the Prefect meet.

"Welcome everyone to the first Prefect meet of this new school-year. We have a few things to talk over, and then we'll pass out some papers with all the information you need to know this year." A seventh year Prefect, Michael Sterling, announced. "See, the staff wanted to know what Hogwarts need- just to gain some life around these stone walls and all. We're going to take a vote on everyone's ideas. Everyone, please, get in partners. Begin."

Lily and I were partners, of course. We were always good with trying new things, so this should be a blast.

"Okay, Lily, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about going classic…"

"And having a dance?"

"Yeah! With karaoke, and drinks, and snacks, and everything awesome."

"Like a disco ball, flashing rainbow lights, and strobe lights and stuff?"

"Yes!"

"Michael!" I exclaimed, getting Michael sterling's attention.

"Yes?"

"We have our idea down and pat."

"Do tell, please."

"We want to, quote, 'go classic, and have a dance, with snacks and drinks and awesome stuff; like a disco ball and strobe lights and stuff'." I said excitedly. Michael smiled.

"That doesn't sound too bad. I mean, we only have a Christmas dance and a Valentine's Day dance- and those don't have strobe lights or a disco ball. Nice job, girls." Michael explained, and then walked away after smiling again.

"He so digs you, Emi. I think every guy does."

"Just like they dig you." I said, giving Lily a church pinch. She whipped away and spanked me as hard as she could. We were strange like that.

"Ow!" we both said in unison.

"Alright, alright! Attention please! I need ideas. I remember one was to have a Dance with snacks, drinks, a disco ball, 'flashing rainbow lights', and strobe lights." Michael said writing it down. I didn't really listen to any ideas, but I did hear something about a Hogwarts beauty pageant for girls and guys…Wow, that would be so much fun…

"How many votes do I have for a dance with extra…things? Raise your hands." Michael asked, as a bit over half the room hands shot up. "Oh, well- that's definitely more than half…so, a dance wins. Aside from that, who thinks a Hogwarts pageant would be grand, also?"

Lily and I raised our hands, and only a few boys kept their hands down.

"Excellent. Thanks for your work. When do we want this dance to take place? How does…September 15th sound? That would be not next Saturday, but the next after that. All in favor say 'Aye'."

"Aye." The entire Prefects in the room said.

"All who oppose, say 'Nay'." No one disagreed. "It's settled then. There will be a dance on September 15th, Saturday. Spread the word. Thank you all. Dismissed." Michael ended the meeting. I smiled at Lily, after picking an informatory paper up.

"I'll see you later Lily. Have to go to the Quidditch Meet."

"Okay, meet me in the Gryffindor common room, alright?"

"Alright."

I walked to Ravenclaw tower, but I wasn't going to the common room or anything- I was going to a secret Ravenclaw room no one knew about, except the staff and Ravenclaw Quidditch players. We called it the Room of Quidditch, or the R.O.Q- mocking the R.O.R. I walked inside to see the team from last year. See, the first thing we do before quidditch starts is elect a Captain and a Vice-Captain, _then _we had tryouts.

"Hey guys!" I greeted as everyone either said hello in return or smiled.

"Alright, I believe everyone is here. We're here today to elect a captain. We are going to take a quick paper-based vote for elections. Get two pieces of paper then write Vice-Captain on one and Captain on the other. Write the name of the person you want for each position. Thank-you." Niall Marlin said. He was the captain from last year. Darcy Chang was the Vice-Captain, just because she was his girlfriend last year too- he even admitted it.

I wrote: 'Vice-Captain: Gilderoy Lockhart; Captain: Niall Marlin.' And turned it in to Niall, who held a woven basket, ready to take the strips of paper.

"Alright, I think everyone has turned their vote in. I will tally the votes, give the results to the Ravenclaw Head of House, and the results will be posted on the Quidditch Bulletin board- as will every other team. You may all be dismissed."

"Hey there, Emi-Demi…" Gilderoy Lockhart, a boy who was far worse than eight Sirius', said, slinging an arm around my shoulder. "How are you today, gorgeous?"

"Um…Good…Can you kind of move your arm?"

"Not unless you want to put your arm around me."

"No thanks. I have to go…" I ran for it.

"Goodbye! I love you, dearest!" I heard Gilderoy exclaim at the top of his lungs. I ran to Gryffindor tower and came to the Portrait of The Fat Lady.

"Password, please?" she said fancily.

"Um…I have no idea. I have to meet someone…"

"Alright- I'll let you go this one time, but only because I like you, dear." The Portrait door swung open after I said 'Thanks a million times'.

"Lily, I'm home!" I screamed. Lily raced down the stairs.

"Hey! How did it go?"

"It went pretty good…I won't know the results until tomorrow, though."

"Ah, I see. Did Gilderoy attack you?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I'm a seer." Lily said, as I started laughing. "Not really. I actually heard a couple of first years talking about 'a flighty, yet gorgeous blonde guy' and 'a girl with copper hair', so yeah…" Lily laughed. After that, we started talking about the dance, sort of hoping someone would hear us. We decided we would go shopping this coming Saturday at Witchly, a dress shop we adored, during the first trip to Hogsmede. We had everything planned out. Now we just had to get dates…

A/N- Rate, Comment, and Favourite!(:


	4. Oh, Siriusly!

A/N-Here's Chapter four! Siriusly, thanks for reading! It means a lot!(:

Chapter Four- Siriusly

Lily had been counting down the days until we go shopping. I mean, what girly-girl could resist shopping at Witchly? Finally, it had gotten all around the school that there was going to be a dance. Everyone was getting asked to go to the dance and everyone was picking out what they would wear for it. Lily and I had already picked out some colour pallets: she was going with something in the blue-to-green are, and I was going with a salmon or peach colour, since those would look good with our hair. Speaking of hair, which was one thing we hadn't decided on. Lily asked me to French braid her hair if she chooses it…

Anyways, it was finally Friday, and Lily and I couldn't be any more excited. It was 9 o'clock, so Lily and I were headed to Muggle Studies. Thank god Ravenclaw was paired with Gryffindor for classes!

We walked into the classroom, to see that we weren't the only ones in there: Sirius, James and Peter were also in there.

"Hello!" James said, waving at us.

"Hey, James." I said, waving back. Sirius nodded and I smiled at him. Today was a day where he actually wasn't annoying…for now, at least. Lily and I's plan will take place tomorrow, but we will activate it today. Man, I love sounding all secret agent…

Lily and I sat on the other side of the room, and more and more people started to file in, until the bell finally rung. Like every other class, the teacher would probably be about five minutes late. As expected, the Marauders came over to sit with us in some empty seats, except for Peter, who stayed and chatted with Xeno.

"James Potter, what do you want?" Lily asked. There was a stove, which was once an island.

"Nothing, my Lily-flower, just to see you." James replied.

"Em, d-" Sirius was cut off as the teacher, Miss Higgins, walked in. Everyone got quiet.

"Hello, students! Welcome to another day of Muggle Studies. So, for the past week we've gone over some muggle objects and their functions, but today we will begin the real Muggle Studies.

This year, I wanted to try some new programs. We will be working on some Home-owning things for everyday life, with muggle things. I call it 'Home-Owners'. We will work on cooking, and eventually you will be able to have your own flat in an apartment- to stay in, plus more. In addition to the apartment, you will be able to keep that flat after Hogwarts, to stay in before you get on your feet, but we'll get to that momentarily. You will notice that there is a stove instead of an island serving as your table, and there is an oven beside each chair installed into the stove. That is for cooking, as you already know- and today, we will be baking. I will let you choose what dessert recipe you want and you may begin baking. Follow the instructions, please. Ingredients are in this fridge. And not to worry, this is much like the ever-lasting purse- the fridge goes on and on and on. Begin.

"You guys are going to suck at cooking," Lily said to James and Sirius. "but I bet Peter does pretty good." She glanced over at Peter.

"Oh, that makes us feel real good, Lily." Sirius said, clutching his chest. He winked at me.

"Well, you can't blame me for guessing." Lily said to Sirius.

"Hey, James, will you help me get some stuff for this table?" I asked.

"Sure." James and I got up and we walked to the fridge line. The plan was falling into place. Lily would talk to Sirius, while I talked with James.

"So, James… Can I ask you something?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Why do you act so arrogant around Lily? No offense or anything. I mean, I know you like her…"

"I don't like Lily, Emileigha, I love her. I guess I feel like it makes me look better or something, you know? I don't mean to be all egotistic, it just sort of happens…" James admitted. Aw…so sweet! I would totally 'aw' right now, but Lily would bite me.

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: Lily likes you. But your ego is kind-sorta-maybe stopping her form dating you…" I said.

"Oh my Godric? Really?" James exclaimed, picking up random stuff, while I got milk, flour, cocoa, and eggs. James had half of the same stuff as me. Lily was definitely right.

"Yup!" I smiled. I felt good bringing to young hearts together…

"Well, then- I'll try and quit being a jerk, then. Thanks…"

"No problem…So, you know- there's a dance next Saturday. Maybe you should ask Lily? Nicely?" I urged. James smiled and nodded.

"Of course I will." James said, as we started walking back to our table. We got our table and sat everything on the counter-part of the table. Lily handed me a recipe that she and picked for the table: classic triple chocolate brownies. Oh, sweet, sweet chocolate…

I ran back over to the fridge and got some milk chocolate chips, some white chocolate chips, then brung them back. I opened a bag of chocolate chips cautiously when nobody but Lily was looking and we both secretly had a handful each…and maybe a little more.

"I might cry." I said to Lily, after I had helped mix up our brownie batter. These delicious brownies would be moist and thick, and so chocolaty that we might pass out from the very thought de-chocolatedration, if that makes since. I slid them into the oven beside my chair, under my desk. I wonder who installed these…they don't seem too safe.

"Why, would you cry, love? Because you're in my presence I assume?" Sirius grinned. Okay, either Lily didn't talk to him, or Sirius just likes messing with me. Love is SO confusing! I mean, I like Sirius a lot one day, and then the next I can't stand him, and then another we're good friends, and yet another day we're sworn enemies! Oh dear lord…

"Yes, that's exactly why, darling." I rolled my eyes.

"I figured. I mean, look at me." Sirius winked, sitting down and waiting for his brownies. James sat down right after he did and looked at Lily.

"So, Lily…that dance is next Saturday. I was wondering if you wanted to go." James asked calmly. Good boy, James!

"Um…maybe. I have three other people who have asked me already, so I'll think about it." Lily said, trying to be…arrogant? That's a first for Lily.

"Ooo…romance." Sirius cooed, waggling his eyebrows at me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Don't look at me, there's someone beside you."

"Are you saying I should romance with James?"

"Ew, no- dude…" James shook his head, while Lily was off in La-La Land. Me against James and Sirius, then.

"You could, if you want to. No one is judging here." I explained, lightly kicking Sirius in the shin. He laughed.

"Not in James' dreams…" Sirius muttered.

"Trust me, I don't have dreams about you, mate." James said in defense. I laughed.

"Who do you have dreams about, then?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows. Sirius looked at me.

"Lily." James said plaintively. Lily still didn't look over, but she was smiling. Suddenly, a crumpled piece of paper hit my shoulder and bounced off, landing on the desk in front of me. I jumped in surprise, and picked it up, then unfolded it. It said:

'Dear Emileigha,

It's your love, Gilderoy Lockhart! So, there's a dance next Saturday, and I wanted to know if you want to go with me. Of course, I don't exactly have to ask, because I know you'll go. I'm wearing a green tie, so wear something green, and then we'll match. Make sure you look gorgeous and presentable, so no one thinks you're a bad match with me.

Love,

Gilderoy Lockhart'

"Jerk!" I said. I looked around for Gilderoy Lockhart. When he saw me, he waved and blew a kiss. "No, I will not." I said to him. He laughed.

"What did he just say to you in that note?" Sirius asked unhappily, taking it form my hands. Lily snapped out of it.

"What?" she said, finally alert. I shook my head with a slight smile.

"Lockhart asked me to go to the dance with him, in a very rude way…the little prat…" I said. Lily took the note from Sirius after he and James had read it. When she was done reading she huffed.

"He is such a jerk! Curse him and his gorgeousness…" Lily sighed. I flicked her shoulder.

"Oh my Godric…" James said. Sirius looked mad.

"That little…Ugh!" Sirius jumped up.

"Hey, what are you doing? Sirius? Don't go-" I was cut off by Sirius.

"I'm not going to let him talk like that to you, Emileigha." Sirius said angrily. I watched him walk over to Gilderoy and say something, and then he kicked his stool out from under him. Gilderoy fell to the floor, shocked. He pulled himself up, and they both got in each other's faces. Sirius was the first to throw a punch, and then Gilderoy almost hit him, but Miss Higgins ran over.

"Mr. Black! What do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed, looking at him with the death-stare.

"I…I-" Sirius was cut off my Gilderoy.

"Miss Higgins, sweetest, Sirius here simply came over from his table and deliberately started harassing me!" He exclaimed. Miss Higgins looked like she was about to melt, or explode.  
"Detention for a month, Mr. Black! Gilderoy, dear, why don't you go to the infirmary? Mr. Black, go back to your table until I know what to do with you! Right now, no back talk!" Miss Higgins exclaimed. I sighed. Why did Sirius do that? He walked back to the table with his hands in his pockets.

"Sirius, why did you do that? You knew you were going to get in trouble…" I said quietly. Lily and James tried to look away and spire a conversation of their own.

"And you were going to let him treat you like that? That's ridiculous! Emileigha, you can't let guys do that to you. You know when they think you're too pretty and they think they can just control you- so tell them to stop!" Sirius exclaimed, trying to stay calm.

"Then stop, Sirius. Stop. I'm not stupid, I know what I'm doing- I don't need you to tell me." I said. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Fine! I'm trying to help you- but fine. I don't care." Sirius said. He stood up and just walked out of the classroom. Miss Higgins rolled her eyes. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"You okay, Emi?" Lily asked, rubbing my back. I almost broke down for a second, but then I sat up.

"I don't understand why he does that." I said sadly, looking at my hands. I heard a loud 'Ding', which meant our brownies were done. I stood up after putting some oven mits on and slid them out of the oven, then sat them in front of me and Lily.

"I know…do you need a hug?" Lily smiled, trying to make me happy. I nodded with a puppy-pout.

"Very badly." I said, as Lily gave me a hug. James took his smoking brownies out of the oven.

"Do I smell…tacos?" Lily asked curiously, eyeing James' brownies. James smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, um…Me and Sirius wanted to experiment a little bit. We put a pack of taco mix or something in the batter. Wanna taste one?" James asked, smiling. Lily thought about it.

"Oh, alright…" Lily gave in, as James handed her a brownie. She looked at it for a second, and then took a small bite. As soon as she swallowed it, she gagged and almost got sick. I jumped back, taking a few steps away from her.

"Please tell me you're not going to be sick…"

"I don't think so…Oh no…" Lily said, _before_ throwing up her breakfast, and the brownie. As soon as Lily puked, I went along too.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" James exclaimed to us. We were both holding our stomachs.

"I'm going to die…" Lily moaned.

"No, Lily, don't die- we have to go shopping tomorrow…" I whispered. Miss Higgins raced over.

"Oh my! Mr. Potter, would you escort these two to the infirmary, please?"

"Yes, ma'am." We followed James, who was being extra careful not to get too close to us. We managed to make it to the infirmary, only throwing up once…Actually; it was just me who got sick again. Yuck.

It was 11:30 p.m., so Lily and I had a good thirty minutes to spare before we had to leave for Astronomy. We were wide awake, since we had taken a nap after the rest of our classes were over. We were both talking about the dance, when James walked down to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hey, James? Do you and Sirius want to go shopping with us tomorrow, for the dance?" Lily asked. I was still mad at Sirius. I can't stand it when someone gets in trouble for something that happened to me, or takes the blame for something I did, and Sirius broke that code. Sirius hadn't shown up for any classes after Muggle Studies.

"Actually, Sirius isn't going to the dance…" James frowned. "But I'll go with you. I'll protect you both from other guys who are scoping out girls. Okay?"

"Okay, James." I laughed. James flexed his muscles and laughed, and Lily giggled and shook her head. I couldn't help but let my mind wonder back to Sirius. I bet he's not coming to the dance because he's mad at me…He's like that a lot of times. If he had just stayed in his seat, none of this would have even happened! That note wasn't his business, anyways! I clenched my fists.

"Whoa, Emi, are you okay?" Lily asked worriedly. I calmed down and exhaled.

"Yeah…let's go to Astronomy already, it's okay if we're a little early."

"Sounds good…Do you guys feel better? I'm seriously sorry about those taco brownies…" James said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I know I do. You should probably stick to the instructions and ingredients next time…" I said, trying to change the subject on my mind.

"Why the instructions? I thought we did everything right." James laughed.

"Well, your brownies were kind of burnt…they weren't very moist." Lily said smartly.

"Ah, I see…" James said, holding up a finger. "I guess we thought ten extra minutes was good for them." Lily glanced at me from the corner of her eye and smiled, then smiled at James. My talk with James had apparently worked out really well. He wasn't being obnoxious and super-arrogant anymore…

We walked out of the Portrait whole and headed towards the Astronomy Tower.

"Emileigha!" someone called form behind. I turned around to see a boy with fluffy blonde hair and Dark brown eyes, who looked to be about 5'11''. He caught up with us.

"You're Amos Diggory, right?" I asked. Amos Diggory was a year ahead of me, and lots of girls liked him, younger or older. The marauders only got girls that were younger or in the same year.

"Yeah. I was going to introduce myself, but you already did. Even better!" he smiled. "Well, there's a dance next week, Saturday…I was hoping you might want to go with me? I mean, I know you don't exactly know me, and I don't exactly know you- but we could hang out some until the dance…and after…" Amos blushed and put his hands in his pocket.

"She already likes someone, act-" Lily was cut off when I looked at her with my eyebrows raised, signaling to be quiet.

"Well, that's okay- we can go as friends…If you want to go, that is." Amos said sweetly.

"Oh…um, sure- I'd love to! Is there a certain day you want to hang out or something? Um, this is Lily, and this is James- we're going shopping tomorrow if you want to come…" I asked, smiling. Amos nodded.

"Sure, what time are you guys leaving? And that's during the Hogsmede trip, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. We were planning on leaving at eleven a.m., if that works out." I replied happily.

"Yeah, totally…So, um, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup…Meet us in the Great Hall?"

"Definitely! See you." He smiled, and waved, then turned on his heel and walked down the hall.

"Emileigha Jayne! What about Sirius?"

"Does it look like Sirius and I even want to talk to each other, Lily?" I pointed out.

"No, I guess not…but…alright. I guess Amos is pretty cute." Lily smiled after.

"Sirius won't even talk to me. He has some pretty bad anger issues…" James concluded. Lily nodded. We all knew Sirius was hard to control when he got angry. I mean, this actually wasn't the first time we had been in a fight. I guess things happen though…it's not too hard to get him mad. He just likes to take care of the people that are close to him, no matter what the punishment is. That's not always good, though.

"I imagine he won't talk to me for a while…Why did he have to freak out like that? I can take care of myself…he's worse than Remus!" I said.

"How about we focus on shopping, guys? Let's look on the Brightside of things!" Lily said cheerfully. James and I nodded.

We walked to astronomy, talking all about the dance. Lily had finally said yes to James' offer of going to the dance with him, and I could tell she was happy. After this, I bet they'll even start dating.

But what am I going to do with Sirius, though?

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	5. Let me Count the Ways!

A/N- Chapter Cinco! Hope you like!(;

Chapter Five-

This morning, I woke up to Jenna's crazy loud alarm clock again. I sat up straight as soon as it rung. I looked over to see that Jenna wasn't even in bed. Literally- her bed was made and everything. She rushed out of the bathroom and slapped it. I peeked at the clock: 9 o'clock.

"Sorry…" she said quietly, then turned and walked back to the bathroom. When she was gone, I rolled my eyes- but smiled. I'd woken up to this ever since I got back to Hogwarts, so that's a whole week now. I was kind of getting used to it, but that doesn't mean I like it.

EVen though Lily and i's plan failed (we had wanted to take James _and_ Sirius shopping with us), I had a lot of things to look forward to. There was shopping with James, Lily, and Amos, first, and then I'm going to go look at the Quidditch team results. After that, Lily and I were going to find some new ways to do our hair.

I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. After that, I looked for something comfy and easy to take off. I pulled a cream-coloured sweater dress from my closet and a pair of knee-length brown leggings from my dresser. I left my wavy hair down after brushing it and grabbed my brown messenger bag, then headed down to the Common Room. Xeno was already down there, alone.

"Good morning, X. How are you today?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm good. How are you?" he asked in return, smiling. I sat beside him on the couch in front of the fire he was lounging on.

"Good, really excited." I said, looking at him. He looked at me.

"Why so?" He smiled.

"I'm going shopping today, and yesterday I got a date to the dance." I grinned, as X laughed.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Amos Diggory. He's a year ahead of us." That was something I really was worried about. I was put in Hogwarts a year before I was really supposed to be, so that makes me fourteen when I should fifteen. Amos is sixteen, so he's two years older than me… "Are you going with Luciana?" Luciana was Xeno's girlfriend, and they'd been dating since second year. She was just like him, and she was in Gryffindor, but they managed to spend lots of time together. She was very nice, with dirty blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. We were friends, but we didn't talk that much.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world. After all, my favorite cousin had the idea." He smiled.

"Gotta give Lily some credit too, though. We both had the idea." I smiled. Xeno nodded with a grin. "So do you want to go to breakfast?"

"Sure. I have some news." Xeno said, as we started to leave. Instead of a portrait of some fancy opera singer like Gryffindor has, Ravenclaw has a portrait of a man reading a very large book. We stepped out of the Portrait whole and walked down to breakfast. My brown flats tapped the marble as we walked.

"Go on…" I said curiously.

"I discovered that Hogwarts is infested with Nargles- lots and lots of Nargles." X said seriously. We entered the Great Hall and walked to the Ravenclaw table.

"Really? How did you find out?"

"Well, I'm assuming they like to take the shoes of the people who are going to go to the dance, because that's what happened to me, and Luciana. I looked everywhere with her, but we couldn't find our shoes! Finally, I almost gave up- until I thought, 'If you can't find anything everywhere, go to the room of anything with everything'! So I went into the R.O.R and walked in to find a room full of shoes. I walked in, but I still couldn't find them. That's when I found another door. I opened it and I found another room of shoes, except ten times bigger than the room before. I found our shoes, but the Nargles told me I had to do something in return to get our shoes back…"

Huh, I didn't know they could talk! What'd you have to do?"

"They requested I bring them Horklump stew…Yuck; I couldn't dream of eating such a nasty soup!"

"What's a Horklump?"

"Oh, it's a pink mushroom-like thing covered with black bristles. They act like the Whomping Willow, but less violent. They're awfully prickly…"

"Oh, wow…What an adventure!"

"Oh yes…and this all happened last night, at one a.m., after Astronomy."

"You must be tired, then."

"Yes, I am. My hunger overtakes my sleepiness, though."

"Well, be sure to get some sleep today. Enjoy breakfast, too. I'm going to go talk to Lily, then. Have a nice day, X." I smiled, getting up and waving bye. I walked over to Gryffindor table and sat by Lily and James. Remus was reading a book while eating a piece of toast, and Peter was munching on some bacon. Sirius was nowhere to be seen…alright, there is no way possible he could be that mad at me! Why would he be mad at me, anyways? It's not my fault, it's his. He's the one who flipped out.

"Hey Lily, hey James. How are you two?" I asked.

"Good, how are you?" James replied, taking a big gulp of pumpkin juice.

"Super freaking excited!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"I'm good, James. Thanks. And to Lily: I know, right! Oh my gobsmackers, I can't wait!" I exclaimed happily. Remus looked up at me, giving me a death-stare. Suddenly, my happiness poofed away.

"Emileigha, who are you going to the dance with?"

"I-I could ask you the same, Remus!" I stuttered. I knew this would come up.

"Tell me now. I'm going with Marlene McKinnon." Lily gasped, and I sighed.

"Amos Diggory…" I said.

"Emileigha, he's too old for you. You're fourteen years old, and he's sixteen years old."

"Remus, relax, we're just going as friends!"

"I don't care! He's a sixteen year-old guy. What do you think runs through his mind when he sees a younger, pretty girl? He could easily take advantage of you."

"Oh, come on! Now you're just like Sirius? Great! You make everything better, don't you? You know he's not like that! Why does everyone think I can't take care of myself? I'm fourteen- not four!"

"Emileigha, please…"

"Don't talk to me, Remus. Lily, James- let's go outside or something." I said, narrowing my eyes at my brother. I was almost shaking with anger. I guess I'm an idiot, if everyone thinks that.

Lily, James, and I walked outside to the tree beside the black lake.

"Do you guys think I can take care of myself? Be honest, seriously." I said.

"I know you can. You've stayed at home by yourself for day's lots of times and you've managed perfectly." Lily said sweetly, rubbing my shoulder.

"I agree, but Emi- you know Sirius and Remus just don't want to see you get hurt, right?" james said, looking at his hands.

"I do, but why do they flip out? Why do they make it sound like I'm an idiot or something?" I asked. Lily and James were silent. "Let's just talk about something else, before I explode."

"Actually, I think it's almost time to leave. Let's go meet Amos." Lily said.

"Well that sucks...we just walked out of the Great Hall." James laughed. We got up and walked back into the Great hall, were Amos was waiting. He stood up and walked up to us.

"Hey guys. All set?"

"All set." I said happily. I glanced over at Remus who was watching. He gave me a sincere look, but I turned away. More and more people exited the Great Hall to the left, which was where the Hogsmede carriages were. We went out and got a carriage in silence, and then Amos was the first to speak up once we were moving.

"So, Emileigha…what colour are you wearing?" Amos asked.

"You don't have to match; I'm going in a more girlish colour. Salmon or Peach." I smiled.

"That's fine with me! I'd like to hear the compliments I get." Amos smirked.

"What about you, Lily?" James asked.

"I'm definitely going with blue or green, so it'll go with my hair nicely. Cool?" Lily asked happily. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at them, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see Amos staring at me.

"Cool." James smiled. He and Lily looked back at us.

"So what store are we going to again?" Amos asked.

"Witchly, the most awesome dress shop ever! But don't worry, they sell guy clothes too." I replied. Lily squealed.

"I love shopping so much." Lily said cheerfully.

"Me too, me too." I agreed, grinning. Shopping was the next best thing in the world…next to chocolate, of course.

It was only fifteen minutes to Hogsmede, so it wasn't a long trip at all. As soon as the carriage stopped, Lily and I jumped out. Amos and James caught up from the other side of the carriage, and we walked to Witchly, and stepped inside. It was almost as good as smelling Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. We looked around, meaning Lily and me, while Amos and James were in the back looking around. Lily and I had tried on a hundred things, but we couldn't find one that suited us. This happens every time we go dress shopping…I just can't even imagine what it might be like when we're wedding shopping…

"Oh my gobsmackers! Lily!" I exclaimed, pulling the prettiest dress ever off of a rack. The dress was a strapless, peach coloured, ruffled high-low dress, with the same colour belt attached to it and it was outlined in silver. It was absolutely gorgeous!

"AGH! It's so perfect!" Lily screamed. The clerk peeked at us with wide eyes. "Sorry, got carried away…" Lily said to him, smiling. "Emileigha, which one? We'll go try on stuff in just a minute…" Lily held up two cocktail dresses. One was pale blue, with ballet poofs on the skirt part, and it had silver outlining too. The other was royal blue, strapless, with lots of calm ruffles and a black bow belt.

"Um…The royal blue one, totally!" I smiled. Lily nodded coolly., and we went to try everything on.

"How's it going Lily?" I said from the changing stall next over from her.

"It's going good; I just need it zipped up. How about you?" she replied.

"Exactly the same." I said.

"Are you ready for the beautifulness?" Lily asked.

"Go for it…on three. One, two- three!" I counted.

Lily and I both walked out of our stalls and gasped at each other, while shooting compliments at the same time. I zipped Lily's dress and she zipped mine. We both were striking model poses, just to make sure we looked extra fabulous.

"Alright, I'm definitely buying this." I said excitedly.

"I'm buying this one too. We are going to rock the dance, Emi."

"Boys will be so jealous of James." I said, laughing. Lily snorted.

"What about Amos?" she asked, as we walked to the check-out counter, after putting our other clothes back on. We had also grabbed a pair of heels before checking out. Mine were silver with sequins, and Lily's were classic black ones. It turned out that the dresses didn't cost that much, considering how gorgeous they were. The clerk put them in one of those grey dress bag things to protect them. We walked to the back of the store, and made it to Amos and James, who were looking at ties.

"Hey boys." Lily said. James turned around.

"Hey Lily, what colour did you go with?"

"Royal blue." Lily replied. James picked out two royal blue ties and held them up. One had black stripes and the other was plain royal blue.

"And you, Emileigha?" Amos asked curiously. Man, he's really polite…I like it. It's a nice change, for once.

"Peach…" I laughed. Amos pulled a plain peach-coloured tie of the rack and held up to his chest.

"Do I look manly?" he asked. I nodded.

"Very." I laughed. We all laughed for a moment and then went to the register again to pay.

After that amazing trip, we stopped at HoneyDukes. Lily and I turned to James and Amos, teary eyed.

"Excuse us while we tend to our lovely obsession." I said calmly, before Lily and I ran off. We got a bag that you put your candy in, except we had one of those huge ones. We filled it with nothing but chocolate. There was dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate frogs, chocolate wands and everything else that was chocolate. We went to the cashier and his eyes widened.

"I see we like chocolate, here."

"So much…"

"So very much."

"Alright, just let me weigh this…Oh my gosh. 5.12 pounds…that'll be ten Galleons and twelve Knuts, please." The cashier said. Lily and I split the cost, throwing five Galleons and six knuts onto the table each. The cashier smiled and nodded goodbye as we took our chocolate back over to James and Amos. James was giving Amos a mean look… Their eyes widened when they saw us.

"Whoa, that's a lot of chocolate…" James said as Amos nodded in agreement.

"We said we had an obsession…" Lily sighed thoughtfully. I laughed, and we started to head back to the Carriages, since it was almost time to go. Once we got there, Amos opened the door for me.

"Thank-you, Amos." I said sweetly. He blushed and hopped into the carriage with the three of us. James still wasn't looking at Amos decently.

"Alright, so shopping is taken care of. Anything else we need to do, before we go to the dance?"

"Hey, Amos, who was that girl in Witchly you talked to? Is she going to another dance somewhere, because you said you would pick her up for one at seven-thirty…" James said deviously. He looked over at me, and I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Amos.

"Wh-What girl?" Amos stuttered.

"You know, the girl with short brown hair and blue eyes, about a head shorter than you."

"I don't know who you're talking about, James…"

"Yeah, you do. You seemed to know her pretty well- I mean, you did kiss her hand and all."

Amos sighed, "Alright, fine- that was my girlfriend."

"Does she know that we're going together?" I asked curiously. Surely she wasn't that stupid, to let him go with a younger girl besides herself…

"Um, no- not exactly…" Amos said quietly. I sighed and looked at him.

"I think you should get out of this carriage, Amos, before you get pushed out of it." I said evilly. Amos' eyes widened, and he stood up and jumped out. What the crap is wrong with him? I started to feel bad, because I understood what Remus meant. I had the feeling that there was a reason Amos asked me to the dance and didn't tell his girlfriend.

"James, Lily- lesson learned. Don't date older guys without consideration." They nodded, with sorry faces. I laughed, because I didn't really care that much. I sort of felt relieved. "But, hey, we don't tell anyone about this in the rest of our lives, okay? No one can know…"

"Okay, I promise." James said quickly, smiling.

"Now what do we do? We have to find you a date!" Lily exclaimed. James nodded.

"Or, I could go alone. I don't really mind, I guess." I said thoughtfully. "I'm not boy-crazy or anything."

"And there's nothing wrong with that." James said comfortingly. Lily looked at him and smiled. I liked how they were blossoming to be friends- but they loved each other at the same time. That was just so sweet. We finally arrived back at the castle by four p.m., so there was plenty of time to eat chocolate and be comforted, or just goof off. I skipped into the castle.

"How are you so happy? No offense, but it's been a crap day!" Lily asked carefully. I smiled; I knew her intentions.

"No, it hasn't: I went dress shopping with you, partly tie shopping with James, and we got 5.12 pounds of chocolate. It's been a pretty good day." I replied. My stomach growled. "Lily, James- I'm hungry."

"Me too!" Lily exclaimed, grabbing her stomach. I did the same.

"Well, we missed lunch- so we could go get something from the kitchens." James said.

"Let's go, then- I think my stomach might eat itself before we get there though."

"Nah, you'll be okay. Just run."

"I'll see you there." I said, running as fast as I could to the Kitchens. Thank god I played soccer of summer and before I came to Hogwarts! It took me about ten minutes to get there, because I got lost. Yes, I have been here for five years, and I still get lost sometimes. I finally found the painting of the fruit bowl. I thought for a moment, and then I remembered you had to tickle the pear to get in. I don't know how, but I tickled the pair in the fruit bowl and it swung open. I hopped inside, panting.

"I made it…" I said, looking over at James and Lily who were eating chocolate pudding without me. I howled.

"How could you?" I exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. I looked for one of those deep-serving soup spoons in the ten thoudand drawers around the kitychen as fast as I could. After the nineteenth drawer, I found like five of them. I took the blue one and ran over to the bowl of pudding, then dipped the spoon in it and filled it to the brim. James and Lily watched me carefully. I took a sip-yes, a sip- of pudding.

"Let me count the ways I love you…One, two, three, four…" I said with a Spanish accent, lost in chocolate- pudding mania. I heard James and Lily laugh.

"There she goes…" Lily laughed, taking a bite of chocolate pudding.

"Hey, it is pretty good…" James said.

"Please, don't do that…" Lily giggled.

"I was thinking you would say that." James sighed.

I suddenly remembered something: I hadn't looked at the Quidditch results! I'd have to do it later, then…

A/N- Rate, Comment, Favorite, and take my Poll! Thanks for reading! (:


	6. Return of the Nargles!

A/N- here's chapter six! Comment and tell me if I should keep working on this or not, and give me a few pointers if I need them. Feel free to suggest some changes, and point out any mistakes _**please**_. It would mean a lot! Constructive Criticism welcome!(: **Thanks** so much!

Chapter Six-

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_

I opened my eyes…It was Jenna's bloody alarm clock again. She turned it off and apologized. I yawned, stretched, and got out of bed to finish the normal morning routine. 'Happy Wednesday, Emileigha!' I almost screamed at the truth: it was really Wednesday, and Sirius and I were still mad at each other. He'd started showing up for classes and all that, but he always sat with Peter and never with James, Lily, and me. He still wouldn't talk to me, but he'd talk to the rest of the Marauders. I frowned just thinking about him. Maybe we just needed to talk…

I thought about how I could get us back to our normal status while I was in the shower. When I stepped out of the shower, I drew a smiley face on the steam-covered mirror for no reason, and then wiped it off. I didn't have the guts to do this face-to-face, but it looked like that was the only way to really fix things.

I brushed my teeth and put my uniform on, but this time I broke the rules again and wore a blue skirt with flat ruffles on it. I grabbed a quarter-length black cardigan, since it was getting chilly in the school. I went to put my black flats on, but I couldn't find them. I checked everywhere, and still there was no sign of them. Barefoot, I walked to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Maybe I had left them down there? I saw Xeno sitting on the couch again.

"Are you looking for something, Emileigha?" he asked curiously. I nodded.

"I can't seem to find my black ballet flats…I thought I left them beside my bed, but they weren't there this morning." I replied hopefully. "I was thinking I left them down here, but I guess not."

Xeno thought for a moment.

"I know what happened! The Nargles, they took them!" Xeno exclaimed. I thought about it for a moment. Sometimes, I believed in Nargles, but other times I thought it was a load of rubbish. Furry little creatures, stealing shoes? Sounds unbelievable. But, if this is what it would take, then I would go to these measures.

"I guess I'll be searching, then." I smiled. Bring it on, Nargles! "Would you tell our Professors that I was feeling ill, and decided to stay in Ravenclaw tower?"

"Sure. Have fun with the Nargles, then." Xeno said. "I'm going to go to breakfast, I suppose."

Xeno walked out of the Portrait whole, and I did a quick run-through of the Common Room. No ballet flats in here…I left the Common Room, passing the quidditch Bulletin Board, feeling proud. Saturday, I found out that I got Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, which was totally unexpected! I mean, I barely expected Vice-Captain, and I got actually Captain! I couldn't believe it at first, and when I took it in I ran all around the castle. It so wasn't a crappy day! The only downside is that Niall hates me now. I said hi in the hallway and he just rolled his eyes- but he's always a bugger, anyways. But anyways, call me Captain Lupin.

I looked around all the places I had been in the last two days, since that was the last time I wore them, but I couldn't find them. I remembered the story Xeno had told me…

"If you can't find anything everywhere, then go to the room of anything with everything!" I exclaimed to myself. I looked around to make sure no one saw me talking to myself, so they wouldn't think I was bonkers, and kept moving. I came to the R.O.R. after pacing past it for a few minutes, I opened the door. A few shoes fell out as I opened it, landing at my feet. I gasped and walked in. I was standing in a big room full of piles and piles of different shoes.

"Oh wow…I thought Witchly had a lot of shoes."

It was like a dream, almost- except totally real. It shocked me that all these shoes were stolen by Nargles. I figured there were only five or six Nargles, but there had to be a lot more than that to get all these. Then I realized that I would have to look through these piles to find my ballet flats. I started with the closest pile to the door and started digging through it. And what do you know, it only took me half an hour! I frowned. There were at least seven piles in here. Seven times thirty is 210, so I'll be in here for quite a while.

I looked around and realized that there was mistletoe hung on the wall in unusual places, and it's not even Christmas. Oh yes, this was definitely a Nargle whole. I walked around the room and did a scan for my shoes, but I couldn't see any. In fact, I only saw Converse and a few Sperry's.

I heard a door slam and I looked around. The door I came through hadn't been opened, so I was either going crazy, or there was another door somewhere. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a small door, only about three feet tall, crack open. I was a little scared after that, but then I walked over to it and kneeled down. There was a lock on it but…it had apparently been chewed off or something. I closed my eyes and opened it, ready to see what was inside.

Nothing. It was a pitch black room. I quickly felt my hand over for a light switch. Finding one, I flipped it on to see yet another room full of shoes. This room was different though; it was literally ten times bigger than the other room, and there were no separate piles of shoes. It looked never-ending and cavernous, which was stunning. But what surprised me the most were the fluffy, matted, grey balls that were crawling over the shoes in packs. I knew they weren't rats because, well, I'd pass out if they were. I already knew what they were…Nargles. I looked around, and I couldn't resist their cuteness.

"Aw…" I squealed. It echoed off the walls, and every Nargle looked at me, stopping what they were doing. They came closer and closer, until they were only a few feet away, and then they started…barking? Okay, I guess Nargles bark. The bark reminded me of my own dog, Reynold, because he was a Scottish Terrier- so they have that really loud bark too.

"Um…Hey there, Nargle friends…I was looking for my shoes, if that's alright. My friend tells me you guys talk." I said coolly, motioning to the Nargles. The one closest to me barked, and then a few others joined in. They all ran to the left of the room, to where a black wall was. I looked at it carefully and got closer, praying Nargles didn't bite. I was wrong, though- one jumped up, about to my waist, and attempted to bite me. I jumped back as it barked at me. I shook my head and looked back at the wall, glancing at the Nargles ever so often. The wall started to shimmer and I realized the wall wasn't really a wall- it was a huge Chalkboard. A piece of chalked floated up to the board and started writing.

'We write you this, using our magic.' The board read. Nargle Magic? Wow, that's pretty cool.

"Um…I just want my shoes back, please." I said, looking at the board and biting my lip. The words before erased and new ones were written.

'If we give you your shoes, you have to give us something in return.'

"Oh, alright…What is it you want?" I asked aloud. This was too weird. Maybe I'm dreaming; Just go along with it, Emileigha. The Nargles all barked with each other. The board erased itself again. The chalk drew a smiley face. Déjà vu!

'We would like…a pot of mistletoe.'

"Where do I find it?" I asked curiously, as the board began to erase. No way…

'That's your job, not ours.' That was the last message the Nargles wrote for me, and I sighed.

"Can I at least have my shoes, please? I can't run around barefoot like this all day…" I pleaded. The smallest Nargle in the herd rushed forward with a couple of barks and sat my black ballet flats at my feet. I smiled awkwardly. Alright, then...maybe Jenna spiked my water last night with something?

"Thanks…" I said unusually, stepping over a few pairs of shoes to get to the small door again. I opened it up and crawled through it. I heard the clanking of metal as I stepped out and dusted myself off. I turned around and the small door slammed and locked. I heard distant barks from the other side.

I made my way through the maze of piles and piles of shoes, then opened the door and left the room. I sighed of relief. This had to be a dream…surely Xeno's recollection of this was a dream too…

Now where was I supposed to find some mistletoe, in September? Then it hit me: Professor Pomona Sprout's Herbology Green Houses! There was totally one of everything in those things! There was one huge problem, though…Professor Sprout was teaching a class. I could only pray to god that she wasn't in the Green House with mistletoe in it, if there was any. I carefully headed outside, making sure that I wouldn't get caught by a teacher on patrol. Once I was outside, I ran for it. It was time to go Secret Agent, again. I stood outside of the closest Green House, crouched down so my shadow wouldn't be seen. Hearing nothing and seeing nothing after I peeked in a little, I jumped inside and looked around. This was the fourth years Green House, so they were studying Mandrakes. Boy, did that lesson blow. I was deaf for a week after that, and I think Lily was too. I checked one last time, just to be sure there was nothing else in here, and tripped- causing a Mandrake pot to fall and bust. It squealed, causing me to once again go deaf. I saw the shadows off people running pass the Green house, and just before someone came in to see what was going on, I hid under a table. I was lucky that it had a long table-cloth, so I didn't get caught.

"How did this even fall off the table?" One guy asked the other two that had raced in here with him. I held my breath until they left.

"I don't know…Maybe it's the wind?" The other guy joked, as both of the other boys wacked him in the back of the head. It was hard not to laugh, but I kept it in. I exhaled and got out from under the table. I dusted myself off and headed to the green House next over, only to find that Professor Sprout's class was in there. I hurried to the next and went inside. I looked around and saw a few different types of bushes. I got so freaking lucky, it's not even funny, because I found some mistletoe! I held my breath, thinking that Professor Sprout would walk in and catch me, as I snatched the whole thing- shrub and pot. As I was about to leave the Green House and sprint for it to save my butt, I felt something wrap around my wrist. At first I thought it was a hand and I gasped, but when I turned around it was a vine wrapped around my bare wrist (I wasn't wearing my robes). I tried to pull away, but the more I fought the tighter it got. The thorns on the vine dug into my wrist, and I could feel warm blood trickling down my hand…I saw it too.

"Ouch!" I cried quietly. I pulled out my wand. "Avifors…" I recited calmly, as the vine turned into a little finch. I pulled my wrist back as it cooed and I was slightly disgusted to see that I had a bloody upper wrist, from where those sharp thorns had dug into me. I sighed. It stung like a bugger. I was able to hold the pot against my chest and use that same hand to hold my wrist, and then I jogged back to the castle. Once I got inside, I had to hide behind a staircase, seeing that Miss McGonagall was taking someone down the hall. I peeked out to see how it was, and I was surprised to see Sirius. He looked over where I was, but I ducked back behind the staircase in time before he saw me.

I ran for it to the R.O.R. I paced past it a few minutes, focusing on both of the room full of shoes I visited and the Nargles that had barked at me, then I raced in, ignoring the five shoes that fell out to greet me. It looked like there were more shoes than before this time, so I had a hard time finding the three feet tall door. Once I found it, I was surprised to find that it was locked. I knocked once, then again after about five minutes. The door swung open somehow, introducing me to the cavernous room full of millions of shoes once again. The Nargles were still scampering over the shoes like rats, except in packs. One saw me and barked, and then the rest of them started barking. I sat the pot of mistletoe in the only clear spot I could find.

"Thanks…" I said quirkily. They barked one last time at me before I crawled through he door again and I entered the second room again. I stood up and flattened my shirt. My wrist was throbbing now. What kind of plant was that anyways? Whatever it may be, I will never grow it- no matter what. That was just creepy and painful. I took one last look around the room full of shoes and left, but I had a feeling I'd be seeing it again sometime. I walked down the hall and up a flight of stairs to the Hospital Wing, so Madame Pomfrey could bandage me up.

"Oh dear, what happened? That's a severe cut, Miss Lupin." Madame Pomfrey asked curiously.

I thought for a minute. What was my excuse? I couldn't tell her that I went on an adventure for some Nargles. Then it hit me.

"I was feeling ill, but I decided I felt well enough to attend classes. I realized I left my transfiguration notebook in the fifth year Green House, so I went to get it. The next thing I knew, a vine attacked me, but I might have turned it into a bird."

"Oh my…I see. No worry, dear I'll have you fixed in a jiffy. Let me bandage that up for you." Madame Pomfrey said. She wrapped some gauze and medical bandages around my cut then patted my back. "There we go. Off to classes with you, then."

I walked to my class room I was supposed to be in with the note Madame Pomfrey gave me, which was my least favorite class- History of Magic. I knocked on the door, and Mr. Binns opened the door and gave me that weird smile of his.

"Ah, Miss Lupin, there you are! Where have you been?" Mr. Binns greeted, letting me in. I handed him the note I got from the Infirmary. He read it and then looked down at my wrist, which was still pounding. Curse that Vine thing… "Oh my, is your wrist going to be okay?"

"Yes, sir. Just a deep cut…" I said, glancing over at everyone. I saw Lily, Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius. They all looked worried, except Peter- who was off in La-La Land. I looked back at Mr. Binns.

"Good, good…Well, take your original seat, then. If you can't write, that's perfectly fine." Mr. Binns said carefully, pointing to the spot between Sirius and Lily. I nodded and walked over to my seat, as Mr. Binns began to teach again. Of course, no one paid any attention. It was an easy pass in here anyways, if you had studied before.

"Emileigha, where have you been?" Lily exclaimed.

"Um…I was…I was in the…Ravenclaw Common Room…"

"Oh…Kay? Why were you in there for almost half of the day?" Lily asked.

"I was feeling sick…?" I lied. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"You just lied to me, didn't you?"

"Yes… I slept in." I hoped I slept in, at least. I think that I'll go with that, for my own sanity. Lily looked at me thoughtfully.

"Aw, and you feel bad about it, don't you? It's okay, we all do that sometimes. You're good." Lily said, smiling. She patted my shoulder. I could feel Sirius' eyes burning into my back. I couldn't take this fight anymore, so I turned around and looked at him apologetically. He gave a solemn half-smile and looked from me to his hands.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry. I know I flipped out over all that dumb stuff the other day…I just can't stand it when my friends get in trouble for me." I said sadly, looking at him. He looked up at me again and raised his eyebrows.

"You don't have to say you're sorry, Emileigha. I'm sorry for, well, everything. I kind of still have those anger issues…" Sirius said.

"Friends again?" I asked.

"Friends again." He smiled.

I sighed in relief and Sirius smiled. Praise the lord, it's all better now! No more anxiety and no more sighing. I love this feeling so much…After that, classes continued and it was like a normal day, but Sirius and I still didn't talk as much as we normally did. It would probably take a day or two before every single thing was back on track. Before you know it, we'll be flirting like mad.

When I got back into bed after all my classes, I realized that if I didn't have a date for the dance, I would D.J the dance. Perfect idea, straight from the mind of Captain Lupin. Speaking of Quidditch, try outs were next Friday…I can't wait! And James thought Gryffindor was going to win the Quidditch cup? _Please_. With me picking out the players, we'll be unstoppable...Oh gosh, i never thought I'd live to meet the day I would sound like James.

A/N- Rate, Comment, and Favourite! I really need you guys to take my poll...let's just say that it depends on the future of this story! Thanks for reading!


	7. Hang Out! Part One

Chapter Seven- Hang Out(Part One)

"Hey, I don't get it…Why was he even in the woods?" Lily asked me, while we were in Muggle Studies. We were making any casserole of your own choosing, and Lily and I went with Blueberry French Toast Casserole, which was in the top ten things of our 'Almost as good as Chocolate' list. We had made that like nineteen times over summer, when Lily stayed at my house for a week. I was stirring some of that thick white icing you put on cinnamon rolls, except it was home-made instead of genetically engineered. I added half a teaspoon of Vanilla Bean extract, then some ground cinnamon. Recently, Lily and I have made our own aprons like the rest of the class was told to do- but ours were different. We went with the fifties styled aprons instead of whatever styles other people used. While were prepping our dish, I was telling Lily a scary story that I just suddenly made up. What can I say; I have a very big imagination…

"He thought he heard his girlfriend screaming." I replied, putting my hand on my hip. Lily nodded.

"How did he know it was her?"

"Because, she was calling his nick-name that she had given him. He was an idiot to go alone, obviously."

"There are woods beside your house, Emi! Oh no…" Lily cried.

"Lily, I don't have a boyfriend." I said flatly.

"You have me, and I call you Em- which, if I may pint out, is something nobody else chooses to call you. Don't you love me, Em?" Sirius said. Lily looked at Sirius slowly, squinting. You could tell that she was so freaked out. "But, relax- I wouldn't attack you in the woods and all that scary stuff…"

"I thought that was kind of a sad story too. Even though I'm going to have nightmares tonight, I still think it's sad that the other girl had a crush on him and thought he was so gorgeous, but he always felt so insecure…then he was killed by that same girl, in revenge." Lily sighed thoughtfully. "I wish I was pretty."

"Lily, you know you're gorgeous…" James said sweetly. Lily's cheeks turned red.

"Well, I would tell you that your pretty, but James might kill _me_ in the woods." Sirius laughed. James slapped Sirius' stomach and laughed.

"Lily Marie Evans, you are beautiful. We have already established that you are the gorgeous one in the friendship." I said, as a seventh year walked up to me. Sirius was about to say something in protest, since he had his mouth open and a finger in the air.

"Are you Emileigha Lupin, Ravenclaw?" Some seventh year asked me. I knew he was in Ravenclaw, but I had no idea what his name was. He was so tall…Why am I so short? Why?

"Yeah, why?" I asked curiously. He pulled a purple envelope out of his school bag and nodded.

"Well, this is for you. It's from Ravenclaw. Congratulations. " He walked out of the room, saying bye to Miss Higgins on the way. Sirius eyed me suspiciously.

"Chill out, it's from my house." I grinned. Sirius smirked and laughed. I slid it into my bag. "I'll open it later…Oh my gosh, James, open your oven!"

James and Sirius' heads snapped over to their oven, which was slightly smoking.

"Not again…" James groaned, quickly opening the oven door as smoke poured out. Miss Higgins looked over.

"Re-start, Mr. Potter…Mr. Black…" Miss Higgins called over nicely. She doesn't like Sirius anymore - I'm positive. It annoyed me so much, because that mess was my fault.

"Crap, I hate muggle cooking so much. I'm not good at it, and I never will be." Sirius whined. James started getting the ingredients out for whatever they were making sluggishly.

"What are you guys even making?" Lily asked, smiling.

"A bacon, cheese, and egg breakfast casserole, Lily. Doesn't it sound awesome? We thought it did. But no, it's crap." James said. He pulled out the pan and sat it down in front of Sirius and himself. Their casserole was charred black on top, and Sirius stabbed it with a fork and pulled up, which resulted in the entire casserole coming out of the pan in one shape, then dropping back down. It sounded like a rock when it fell back down, too…Poor guys, they can't cook.

"Ew!" Lily said disgustedly, jumping back when Sirius picked it up. He looked disgusted too, wide eyed and everything. I shook my head, hearing the oven ding. I put on my oven mits and pulled out Lily and I's Blueberry French Toast Casserole.

"This isn't fair!" Sirius exclaimed, slapping the table. "Why can't I cook, Em?" he played.

I thought about my Nargle 'dream' from yesterday for a second, because Sirius reminded me of the littlest one in the herd for a moment. I guess it was just the sad, yet playful, puppy expression. I felt so sorry for those two… I smirked and giggled, and then I turned back to my casserole and started putting icing on it. I was still giggling, and I heard James whisper something as I cut a piece. I put it on a plate, and sprinkled a few extra blueberries on top. Lily and James laughed, and I got butterflies. I laughed, then turned around and held the plate out with a smile. His face was as red as Lily's hair. He grinned and took it.

"You just made my day, Em. Thanks." Sirius said. I glanced at Lily, who was holding in laughter with James, and cut him a piece, and then Lily got a piece too. What an awkward moment.

"Is it absolutely delicious?" I asked hopefully. Lily laughed and smiled. I got a fork and stole a bite from Lily, and I felt like I was walking through a blueberry field with a basket full of fluffy plain cake with icing dripping all over it... if that makes sense.

"Hey; mine! And that's why it's on our 'almost as good as chocolate' list, Emi. It's like I've died and gone to heaven." Lily said dreamily.

"Okay…So where do you go when you eat chocolate?" Sirius asked. I leaned against the counter and smiled.

"Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, of course." I said. Sirius and James laughed.

"We pretend that HoneyDukes is a branch off from Willy Wonka's, that way we'll always be in heaven. Chocolate is amazing." Lily sighed hopefully.

"So amazing." I agreed. I turned around and looked at the clock. "Well, you guys better get cooking. We have five minutes left in class."

I went up to the cooking utensil section of the room and got a plastic container, then came back and put the rest of Lily and I's casserole in it, like we had planned before we started cooking. There was no way we could let such sweetness go to waste. I handed the container to Lily, who looked around and slid in her bag. We low fived behind the table after that, then the bell rung, dismissing this period. Since I had picked most of our cooking mess up, lily and I were the first ones to leave the room. We could hear James and Sirius calling for us from half-way down the hall, lost in the ocean of small first-years. They were almost as tall as me.

Lily and I walked into History of Magic, which was still considered as the most boring class ever. Of course, the four of us wouldn't really pay attention; we'd just send each other notes and goof off. After all, Mr. Binns was never one to get onto you. He'd just give you a look, like it was telling you to stop what you're doing and pay attention. Remus had a habit of doing James and Sirius' homework in this class (also in a few other classes, too), so they wouldn't fail. Lily and I would go to the library and study just for the heck of it.

James and Sirius ran in and took their seats to my left just as the bell rung. Mr. Binns walked in, and class began. He droned on and on, detail after detail of some war with goblins. Lily looked at me from my write and leaned over.

"Did you see what happened in Muggle studies, when Sirius blushed and all?" she whispered, smirking. James and Sirius were talking about quidditch moves, as usual.

"I saw when Sirius blushed, but that's it…What was that all about?" I asked quietly. I really didn't understand too much of what was going on then. Lily laughed silently and shook her head.

"When you handed him a piece of that blueberry casserole…Well, first of all, the fact that you wanted to make him feel better about failing with cooking was one thing. And before you gave him a piece, he must have liked it when you started giggling…" Lily laughed, trying to hold it in. I could feel my face reddening. Lily stopped laughing and looked at me. "Why are you blushing, Emi? I thought you had a _hater_ crush on Sirius?"

"I…I do. Sort of…" I said, shaking it off. Lily snorted. I just looked at her at first, clueless. Then I let out silent a laugh, and she did too. Somehow, Lily started cackling, but I guess she couldn't keep it in because she laughed really loud once. She slapped her hand over her mouth and I looked away, at Sirius. Mr. Binns kept teaching, but everyone looked over at Lily, who put her head down. He jumped and looked at me, and his face turned red again. James chuckled, and I winked. Why is he being so…well, I can think of word to call him, but he blushes at the little things…and that's a first, because he doesn't normally blush like this. Now I can get the upper-hand of teasing (not meanly, of course)!

"You're blushing, darling." I smirked. Sirius' cheeks got twice as red. "See someone cute?"

"No…just…err…just you, love." He spat nervously, trying to tease me back. Fail.

"I see someone cute, too."

"Who?" James asked, playing along.

"The boy next to you. Do you know him?" I said, pointing at Sirius with my thumb. He took a breath in and sighed, then looked down.

"I knew you thought I was cute…" He said, smirking. Of course, he gained his confidence when I get my own. So not fair. "Go out with me?"

"No." I said.

"You were just flirting with me, though! I'm positive you like me, now. You even called me cute!" Sirius whined.

"I'm a tease, in case you hadn't noticed, Sirius." I said.

"I know! No fair, though!" Sirius whined.

"Oh, come on, Emileigha! One date?" James pleaded for Sirius. Lily looked over.

"Nope, sorry." I replied. Lily nodded and looked back at Alice, and continued her conversation. Jealous, are we?

"How about the dance tonight?" James suggested.

"I'm not going to the dance, James." Sirius said flatly.

"I'm D.J-ing for the dance. Why aren't you going?"

"Because, I'm just not into that stuff, really."

"What are you going to do tonight, then?"

"Probably sit in the common room and devise pranks." Sirius said plainly, half-smiling. I could feel myself giving in. I mean, that would suck to be all alone in the common room…with no one to talk to, except for annoying little first and second years, and nothing to do…I sighed for Sirius.

"Can I hang out with you, tonight, then?" I asked, giving in. Sirius lit up- No joke, I think his eyes got brighter- and he thought for a moment.

"You don't have to, Em. Aren't you going to the dance with Diggory? You shouldn't have to cancel on him." Sirius said.

"Actually, Amos was going with me _and_ his girlfriend, so, yeah. I could D.J for the dance, but there's like three other people that wanted to, who'd be much better than me."

"Thank god- he's a big bloke. If you really don't want to go to the dance that _you_ came up with, then you can definitely hang out with me."

"Okay, I'll see you at six forty-five, then?" I asked, smiling, as Sirius nodded. What I'd really like to know is how it went from me being a confident flirt to a rejecter to a softie. Time flies…

"Does my hair look okay with my dress? I mean, you did a nice job and all, but you know, will it work? Oh my gosh!" Lily squealed nervously. I rolled my eyes and smirked. I had just French-braided Lily's hair for the dance, and even though she looked like a million bucks, she was frantic. The blue complimented her eyes and it made her hair stand out, so she looked fabulous! James was one lucky guy, then! I nodded.

"Lily, you look beautiful! Don't worry; James will be mesmerized."

"Thanks, Emi! I wish you were going, though. How did you manage to get a date with Sirius like that?" she winked. I shook my head, eyes starting to widen.

"It's not a date! We're just hanging out!" I exclaimed, feeling my cheeks heat up. Lily laughed and stood up.

"Well, I don't want to keep James waiting…It's six forty. I better go. Wish me luck, Emi!" Lily said, as we hugged. We pulled away and she walked downstairs. I wished her luck and said my goodbye, as I went to my closet (we were in Ravenclaw tower) to get some pajamas. I slipped out of my bathrobe and put on a pair of blue and purple plaid Pajama pants, and a purple tank top. As you can see, I'm the Ravenclaw spirit! Put on a pair of blue knitted sweater boots, and then set off down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. Thank god I knew the password this time…

I walked into the Common Room, after nodding the Fat Lady Portrait off.

"I'm home!" I shouted, seeing that Sirius wasn't in the Common Room. I looked around, hoping he was somewhere where I didn't see him. I don't like it when people jump out and make other people, like myself, pee themselves. Suddenly, he ran down the stairs, laughing as some other boys screamed from up there. I looked at him curiously and he nodded.

"I sort of dyed some second years' hair crimson…But anyways, hey!" He smirked. I smiled awkwardly and waved.

"Hi!" I laughed.

"So, do you wanna go do something, then?"

"Yeah, what do you have in mind?"

"We could go chill out by the Black Lake and…Just talk…"

"Okay, let's go."

Sirius and I walked to the Black lake. I assume we'd be sitting on the dock or under the closest tree or something. Once we got outside, I realized that this was not tank-top appropriate weather. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going insane or not…I mean, I've done this a few times. I smiled; this would be the first time Sirius and I had ever hung out and talked normally. We walked to the dock that ran out a fourth over the lake and sat down with our feet hanging over the water.

"So…what do you want to talk about, Sirius?" I asked. He thought for a moment and leaned back. I looked up at the sky, seeing the big dipper and the little dipper.

"Tell me about your life. Everything. If that's okay- I mean, that's what comes to mind. I'll tell you about mine after yours, if you want." Sirius smiled. I nodded.

"Okay. Well, I was born December 23rd, so 1961. I'm in this year because at first, I couldn't be away from Remus, because of some separation problems, but I proved that I could handle it- so I could stay. When I was five, Remus was six, my Mum died from cancer. That's why I couldn't be away from Remus, because at first I was scared that he would pass away too. My dad wasn't much help, because he's a Wizard architect, so Remus and I never got to see him that much- and it's still the same. I think about my Mum a lot, but those are never bad memories- just the good ones. I don't have many, anyways. My Mum wasn't a witch- so, a muggle- and my Dad is a pureblood. That makes Remus and I half-bloods, of course. Well, you already know about Remus' 'furry problem'; I can remember the day that happened even. I wasn't there or anything, but I can remember it perfectly. Mum had already passed away by then, and Remus was seven. It was summer, and he went outside to do something, but I wouldn't go because I had told Remus and my dad that I saw a dog in the woods and I was scared. Dad said it was alright, just that he had to stay on the property, so Remus left. He didn't come back for a couple of ours and my Dad got worried, so he went out to look for Remus. The next thing I knew, we were at Remus' bedside in St. Mungos, and Dad explained to me what had happened and what Remus would be. My dad told me that we would love and except Remus just like we had before, but he was a bit different than before. Don't tell Remus any of this, but I think Dad was a little scared of him. After that, when I started to notice, it wasn't ever really the same with the both of us…and I won't let it be. I was the first born girl on my Dad's side of the family, so a lot of times I got extra attention with my family members. After my Mum died, her side of the family wouldn't talk with my dad or his family anymore, just me and Remus. Now there's only our aunt and uncle (by marriage) left on that side. I my looks from my Mum and her family, and Remus gets his from our Dad. My Mum's name was Samantha Jayne Lupin, so I have the same middle name as her. Emileigha Jayne Lupin. We live in a big farm-housey sort of styled house, with a huge yard, an in-ground pool, and a lake. I don't really know why we have a pool, of course- the lake is just as awesome. Our house is in a less-populated, country-like part of London with a few neighbors. Fortunately, they're all wizards and witches, so it's like a magic town or something. My room is on the 2nd floor, and it has a balcony that over-looks the lake and the woods- and I couldn't ask for a better view…My favourite colour is white- because it's secretly every colour- and I like chocolate so much, you wouldn't believe it. I love cooking, so I do that all the time at home. A lot of days, it's like a baking contest in my kitchen- I would just make an apple pie all of the sudden. I like cleaning, somehow, too. If you came to our house, there wouldn't be a speck of dust anywhere, I can assure you…"

A/N- part two, coming next! R&R, favourite! Take my Poll, if you would! :)


	8. Hang Out! Part Two

A/N- Cheerio! Chapter eight, hope you like! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Eight-

"I have a garden at home, and it's sort of over-flowing with flowers. You name it, I have it! My best-friends are Lily, you, James, Remus, Peter, and Xeno Lovegood. I call everyone, except Slytherins, my friend. My favourite classes here are Muggle Studies and Astronomy and…Charms! I went to Ollivander's when I was ten, and after at least five wands, he gave me the perfect one. It chose me by lighting the candles on his desk and stacking some books back onto their shelves. Ollivander said it was an "Infused Yew and Walnut, Unicorn heart-string core, 11 ½ inches, and extra durable". I always thought that was pretty awesome. I make Outstanding's on everything but Arithmancy, which is Exceeds Expectations. Math isn't my favourite thing in the world, really. I've never had a boyfriend before, because…Well, I think it's something to do with my Mum's...death… After she died, I was paranoid that my Dad or Remus would go too. I'm starting to fall for someone, though- and it kind of scares me. I get worried that something will happen to him, and I'll lose him forever. He makes me smile every day, and it's like a fairy tale. Without him, I would be a mess, honestly- I'd be like Remus without a sense of humour. It would be like going to a party and watching it die- no more fun and no more smiles or laughs. The thing is, I can never say 'Yes' whenever he asks me out…" I finished. I was a little bit teary-eyed after talking about my Mum, but I made sure Sirius wouldn't notice. He stretched out with his hands behind his head on the dock and thought for a minute, then smiled at me.

"I was born November 22nd, 1959. I sound old when I say that, but it's true. You'd have to be born between September and December to get into this year of school, so I fit in perfectly. My parents- or my family- are bloody bonkers. The only thing that makes them the least bit happy is Pureness in blood, otherwise they're always angry. I have a little brother, Regulus. Bellatrix Black and Narcissa Black are my cousins, plus Andromeda Black. Andromeda was disowned for falling in love with a muggle-born, so my crazed Mum burnt her face off of the Black Family Tree, which is painted in our main hallway at Grimmauld Place, or the Black Family Mansion and constantly calls her a blood-traitor. I could care less, really. Muggles and magical people who aren't exactly purebloods are the same; in my opinion…some of us are a tad bit different, in one or two ways. The rest of my family, except my great-uncle, is all crazy pureblood-maniacs though. Regulus acts different- sometimes he tries to talk with me, but I just can't do it. He drives me insane a lot of times, because he always points out things in front my parents. I'm starting to wonder why I've stayed in that bloody house for so long- I could've ran away anytime. I'm thinking about leaving this summer, actually. I could go to James' house, if I wanted. After that, my family would disown me. But you know what? I wouldn't even care; I'd actually be a little happy, honestly. Every time I see my parents, they give me a lecture on how to be a true Pureblood, why blood matters, how much better purebloods are supposed to be than the others, and dumb stuff like that. I can't stand it, though! You know, they've never told me or Regulus that they loved us, except for a few times when we were littler. The blokes- they've never been good parents from the start. That's how it's been for every generation; my uncle even told me all kinds of things about the Black Family. I'm not too keen with that boat-load of crap, though. My parents yell at me all the time and they even ask me why I can't be like Narcissa or Bellatrix or even Regulus. Why I wasn't in Slytherin and instead in Gryffindor, which was a first in the entire Black Family, comes up a lot. I'm always warned about who to date, and who to think of marrying. I guess they don't understand that I'm fifteen. I'm not exactly thinking too much about marriage, you know? And I can marry or date who I please! My family is a mess! My middle name is courtesy of my Dad, Orion Black. So it's Sirius Orion Black. I live in the center of London, and it's always grey there, in a huge mansion, which is also grey and dull. My room is covered in Gryffindor banners, some pictures of souped-up Motorcycles, and a picture of a muggle model- best of all, those posters are stuck on there forever. My best-friends are James, you, Remus, Peter and sometimes even Lily. My favourite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, and my grades are normally E's in the fun classes and…well, you don't want to know about the boring classes. I've never had a girlfriend either, but everyone calls me a ladies-man for some reason. I'll admit it, I flirted a few times with older girls- like sixth years- in first and second year, but that was when I was eleven and twelve. I didn't think I'd meet someone as perfect as this one girl, but I did later on in first year. Her brother introduced me, and I had seen her a lot with him on the train, but I wasn't interested in girls that much- so I didn't ask her out right away. I asked her out every day in second year, though. We flirt a lot now, but at the same time we're good friends. She's the sweetest thing that ever walked the earth, by far- but I can't get her to go out with me. I know I'm arrogant, cocky, and a big bloke, but it makes me feel like I have more than a crappy, crazed family when I can brag about other stuff, and that's probably a good reason why she always says no. Somehow, I manage to go a few days without seeing her and even get mad at her a few times, but it drives me insane to even think of that. I want her to be mine forever, but I can relate to why she wont date me...I understand." Sirius finished, blinking. He looked over at me, his cheeks red. My face was red, and I could feel it. We knew we were talking about each other…That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I turned away, blushing even more. I bit my bottom lip and got the most severe case of butterflies in the world, and then I heard Sirius move closer, sitting up. I turned back to him, and he was smirking again. My heart was throbbing...

"What?" I asked curiously, but smiling. We could hear the Whomping Willow twisting across the lake. I stared at it, kind of freaked out. I mean, I've seen it almost every day of my life, but it's a violent, moving tree. Dont tell me you wouldnt be freaked out at least a tad bit if you saw it...

"_This_- I mean, we're such big flirts, arent we?" Sirius smirked. Aw, please don't spoil the moment, Sirius...!

"Yeah..." I laughed, still lightly blushing, and trying to get back to the other things we were talking about. Sirius eyed me, scanning my face. He scratched the back of his head and he wasnt blushing anymore. I looked at him for a second with one of those 'Oh-man-Come-on' looks when he looked over at the Lake. He snapped back over to me.

"Imagine what Remus would do right about now, if he saw us flirting even more...close together..." Sirius said flirtatiously, scooting over to me. He got so close, our thighs were touching and put his arm around me. I crossed one leg over the other and looked at him like he was crazy. He was trying to make a move, obviously, even though I had just spilled my heart out to him _and_ gave him a perfectly good reason why I turn him down whenever he asks me out. The bloody bloke!

"You are **so** insensitive, Sirius! Ugh!" I said, jumping up and pushing his arm off of me. I started walking back to the castle.

"Emileigha! Wait! What did I do?" I heard him call to me. I blocked him out after that, seeing as to that I was about to explode- in a bad way. i could hear Sirius chasing after me, so I ran as fast as I could to my common room. Why is everybody a jerk, over and over again? Well, not everybody...just Sirius Black.

I ran into the Ravenclaw Common Room, finding that there were only six or seven younger students in there, and raced upstairs. I locked the door to my dorm and threw myself on the four-poster bed, landing on my back. I looked at the ceiling for a moment and then grabbed a pillow. I took one deep breath in and then screamed into it, rolling over so my face was buried into it. I sat abck up after a minute and threw the pillow at the wall. I don't know how an accidentally sweet night could go from romantic to ruins! There is no way in Merlin's ripped pants that Sirius could ever be romantic! It would've been way better to just go to the dance and flirt with some random guy than Sirius Orion Black! Bloody hell, the twit! I shoved the covers down to the foot of my bed and pulled them back up, tucking myself in, as I snuggled into the warmth. Forget him...Stupid Sirius...

That Tuesday, the day I was holding Quidditch try-outs, was going by quick. It was already time for Arithmancy, and Lily and I were walking down the Hallway. I'd been pretty quiet since Saturday, and Lily didnt ask questions. She had a great time at the dance, I know, and i think she's really starting to like James. Of course, we all know they were going to get married someday anyways, though. I hadnt talked to Sirius, and I don't plan to anytime soon. He's been sending me note after note saying "I'm so Sorry" and he's been trying to talk to me, but it's not like he'll be getting any answers at that rate! Remus is slightly mad at him, considering he doesnt exactly know what Sirius did, but not crazy mad. Nobody is on my side, but whatever- I'm not good at this mad stuff! Aside from that, I've had a killer headache since yesterday. Sometimes I worry if I'm going to pass out or what, because being light headed and having this headache comes in a package, plus a free side of dizzyness. I walked into Arithmancy behind Lily and we took our usual seats. In this class, I sat on the end beside Lily. Once the bell rung, class began- but I didnt pay much attention. We were doing a re-cap on the exam we had yesterday...So nothing that important would be missed. My mind was on the Quidditch side of things. I had a good idea as to who I wanted on the team. Lockhart was going to try out for a Beater, I was keeping my position as seeker, Daniel wanted his usual position as beater one, and I would find the rest later. As soon as the bell rung, I told Lily goodbye and headed to the Ravenclaw Common Room and put on a pair of black shorts and a solid pink tank-top. I rushed out to the Quidditch pitch to see quite a few people there. Daniel Chang, the elected Vice-Captain, was all set for try-outs. He was keeping his position as the other beater with Lockhart, or whoever else wanted it and got the spot.

"Hey, Daniel. Ready?" I asked, waving. Daniel waved back and smiled.

"Yup! Let's get started! First up we have Marcus Abbott...trying out for a beater. Gilderoy Lockhart is after him, for the same position." Daniel anounced, rolling his eyes. Obviously he didnt like Lockhart too much...or maybe it was Marcus he didnt like- but I don't like Daniel that much, anyways. Marcus was a nice guy, a year below me. Before I knew it, we had Marcus as a beater. Gilderoy Lockhart didnt exactly do great. First he got onto the field and blew a few kisses, then he mounted his broom and Daniel made him do the usual tests. By the first one, he was on the ground, almost crying from a tragically-failed flip. We sent him back to the Common Room after that mess-up. Since no one else wanted to try-out for beater, Marcus got the job. We'd have no extra beater though, so we'd have to be careful with injuries. Daniel and Marcus would work together as a team, then. Next up were the Chaser try-outs. We had eight people- five boys three girls go for Chaser. At first, we just looked at how good they worked togetehr by throwing up a Quaffle and letting them hit it and pass it around, then we tried to get them each to score a goal through team-work. That didn't work out as well as expected...one guy got so mad, he just left- left the broom and eveything. We had seven left ater that, and we couldnt decide who had the best tactics, since they each had a different way of scoring. I finally decied to drop a boy and a girl who had been on the team since i had, that way we could get some new people going. Plus, we had extra Chasers. We had one last boy, a second year actually, try out for an extra Seeker. As the rules said, we had to let anyne who was trying for Seeker catch the Snitch. He mounted his broom and got in the air, then I let go of the golden Snitch and it went straight up, out of sight. Daniel and I watched the boy fly around the field a few times, up high, and then he made a straight dive to0 the ground, but brought himself back up. he reache dhis hand out, and it looked like he grabbed the Snitch. The next thing I know, he tumbles off the broom, which was going way too fast for anyone to fall off of and not be knocked out. I yelped and ran over to him, then dropped onto my knees and helped him sit up, completely worry-stricken.

"Whoa..." he breathed, starting to smile. I hadn't realized that, of course.

"Oh my gosh! Are you hurt? Are you broken? Are you going to be okay? Do I need to get Madame Pomfrey?" I asked frantically, rubbing his bangs out of his face to show big brown eyes, so I could look for scratches. He blushed as I scanned his face for any cuts. I immediatley spotted one on his cheek. i rubbed it with my thumb.

"I-I'm okay...just a few scrapes..."

"Wow, kid- some tumble you took! What's your name? You're a tough one,then!" Daniel asked, jogging over and panting.

"Brandon Creevey, second year..." he said shyly. Still panicking, I kissed the scratch on his cheek and checked the rest of him. His face turned bright red, and Daniel held back laughter as I rolled my eyes at him. Brandon was simply staring at me.

"You've definitley got the spot! I'm Daniel Chang and this is Emileigha Lupin, your Captain." Daniel said,helping him up. Brandon rubbed his cheek where I kissed it. Either it hurt, or I give some good kisses! I had the strong feeling that someone had a boy-crush on me. I smiled at him and shook his hand, since Danel did the same thing. Brandon didn't let go of my hand at first, but I tugged and he quickly let go.

"You bet you did, Brandon! Thatw as great! Your definitley a tough guy- after a roll like that." I complimented.

"Thanks so much- I mean, i know this is my first year on the team - and I've seen you play, Emileigha, I couldn't ever beat that- but I'll try my best- always!" Brandon smiled. Danile yawned and I ran a hand through my hair, while nodding with a smile.

"Well, here's your meet paper. It's for whenever we have booked practices and all that. Be sure to keep up with this, little man." Daniel laughed.

"Alright. Bye Emileigha..." Brandon said, waving gently to me and smiling. Yup, there's boy-crush in the air.

"You gave those to the rest of the team, right?" I asked daniel who nodded.

"Yeah- I'm not stupid!" He joked.

"Aright." i said, starting to walk away. Daniel laughed.

"Unless you want one, that is." Daniel said as I turned around. He was holding them above his head. I smirked.

"I got one already, Daniel. Night." I said, raising my eyebrows and rolling my eyes.

"Night, Lupin." He called lazily, giving up with his flirting audition. I walked back to the castle in silence, and when I got into my common room I was surprised to find that nobody was down there. I walked up to my dorm and said hello to Jenna, who was reading a book. She ndded in reply and I grabbed some stuff for my shower. I got in the shower and thought about the ay I had. it'd gone by so fast, it was like a dream. Surprisingly enough, Quidditch was a piece of cake- it went by fast and simple enough. I think we had a good, strong, and dependable team this year. I especially expected Brandon to be a good player- he was pretty impressive today. I think it's cute that he hs a lsight boy-crush on me. I mean, that's one of those things that you just know, right? I laughed to myself and put on some pajamas, then curled up into bed.

A/N- Thanks for reading! Rate, review, love! Take my poll, if you'd be so kind! :)


	9. Bloody HouseElves!

A/N- Hey guys! I'd like to say thank-you again, for reading my story. I'm proud to say that I've come this far with it, almost to chapter ten(coming soon)! Review Double Knotted and tell me some things you like about it, not to mention some things you don't like about it! I'm easily open to suggestions and criticism, so comment away!:) I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Nine-

The aroma of sweet, sweet chocolate almost made me and Lily faint. Here we were, in the Kitchens of Hogwarts at 2:35 a.m., baking cookies and cake and anything that included deliciousness of mouth-watering chocolate. The house-elves were nowhere to be seen, so we were safe for now…unless a teacher just walked in. Then we'd be in deep trouble. I mean, we have classes tomorrow- it's Thursday- but we do this anyways.

It's been five days since Sirius and I spoke, but I actually feel a bit better. I think I'm over Sirius and his insensitivity! Of course, that doesn't mean I have to apologize or something so soon…

Lily and I were in pajamas and fuzzy slippers, so we looked really nice while we were cooking.

Suddenly, the Kitchen door opened and The Marauders strolled in. When they saw us, they all paused and looked at us with curiosity.

"Wonderful night to be cooking, isn't it?" I asked, winking. The oven dinged and Lily backed up, watching The Marauder's every move still, and got our German Chocolate Cake out. I slapped a thing of chocolate fudge cake frosting onto the counter, doing the same as Lily. The Marauders were still watching us.

"Would you like to take a picture? The moment will last longer." Lily stated, being prissy. She sat the cake on a cooling rack and put her hand on her hip.

"We just came because we're hungry. We don't wanna cause any drama." James said jokingly, as each of The Marauders walked over to the other side of the kitchen. Lily shook her head and got a butter knife from a drawer and handed it to me. I ripped the top off of the frosting and threw the lid at Remus, who laughed and ducked as it hit the other wall, and then I started icing the cake. Lily was about to die, apparently, because I could see her starting to slightly tear up. It took me about ten minutes to ice the cake, and it looked horrible, but we couldn't care less. Lily and I each got a fork and we just started eating it from opposite ends.

"I want some milk. How about you, Lily-bug?" I asked, sighing at how delicious chocolate would be. I will never be able to express my desire for chocolate; never.

"Yes, please!" Lily said as I started walking to the fridge, which was about the same as the one in Muggle Studiers, but much taller. I opened the fridge and found milk in an obvious spot, then brought two glasses and the glass milk bottle over. I poured me and lily a separate glass and we tapped them together, then took a drink. A note fell off the bottom of the milk bottle into the floor. I picked it up and read it quietly to Lily:

"_Dear Miss or sir who has drank this milk, and is now reading this note,_

_This milk in this bottle has been enchanted. See, most don't get that we house-elves need milk to cook all food we feed you. Do not worry Miss or Sir, it won't hurt you- it's just a house-elf mood enchantment. Good luck getting it off, however, and thanks for stealing the milk. _

_-Fellow House-Elves of Hogwarts_"

I looked at Lily in horror. House-Elf magic? That's just cruel. Me and Lily say hi to all the house-Elves and chat with them all the time, though! Why must we be punished for good deeds…?

"Are we going to die?" Lily asked, panicking. I took a deep breathe.

"No, we're just going to be in some mood for a long time, I guess." I said worriedly.

"I don't want to be in some mood!" Lily yelled, making the Marauders look over. Then she whispered, "I just got off my period, man- I've been cranky for a week. I'm too tired to be cranky again!"

The next thing I know, Lily had a tear roll down her cheek. I tried to hold in a laugh for some reason, but it didn't work and I just busted out laughing. Lily started bawling right after that then fell to the floor, and I bent over the counter, still in hysterical laughter. The Marauders were watching us, as I rolled over the counter and landed beside Lily. At this point, my stomach felt like it was about to burst, and I was ready to cry through the laughter. I was in a ball on the cold marble floor, muffled laughter echoing from me around the big kitchen. The Marauders stood somewhere around Lily and I now- and I knew this because I could hear Sirius and James laughing. Lily, I saw, was rocking back and forth, huddled in a ball like me, against the kitchen counter.

"Alright, what's wrong with them?" James asked, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. I finally sprawled onto the floor on my stomach, beating on the ground, sometimes gasping for air and sometimes laughing at myself laughing. You have to admit, it had to be funny to see some random girl laughing her head off in a kitchen, on the floor. Remus bent down and picked up the note that had been poorly taped to the bottom of the milk bottle and read it aloud.

"Well, I never knew of the House-Elves being so cheeky and-"

"Literate?"

"That was rude, Padfoot! They feed us some pretty good food." Peter said thoughtfully. I guess Lily and I can just die of mood swings over here, on the floor, then…

"Oh, shut up…"

"Hey, chill out you two…"

"Yeah, Wormtail, take a joke."

"Sorry…"

"Whatever, I don't really care man. It's all cool."

"Good, good."

The next thing I know, Lily starts busting out laughing, and I finally quit. I was normal…for now, at least.

"Oh, praise the Lord!" I gasped, taking lots of deep breaths afterwards. "I thought I was going to die laughing!"

"That was pretty funny, you know. Wonder why you stopped and Lily started, though…" James wondered aloud, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I don't know…but I think I'm going to throw up…OW! Remus, my stomach hurts." I whined, staring over at Remus before clutching my stomach and just rolling forward, face first to the floor again. I tear rolled down my cheek…then another, and yet another chased after…Oh no.

I started bawling after the first few tears fell and I glanced at Lily, who was clutching her stomach and still laughing.

"Oi, you spoke too soon, mate." Sirius said, patting James' shoulder. Remus shook his head and tapped his index finger to his chin.

"What are we going to do? We're human wizards, not house-elves…There's no way we can get the spell off, I guess…"

"Aw…Crap…!" Lily said between long laughs. I quit bawling, and just let the tears fall. I started to feel really, really sad and melancholy.

"Oh my god, my life is so messed up…" I said, wiping some tears as even more rolled out. I sniffed and hugged myself. "I'm going to be alone forever, and it's going to suck. I'll turn into a lonely cat lady when I'm sixty-nine…"

"Hey! No you won't, Emileigha!"

"Aw, don't think like that, sis. You'll find someone, and you know it."

"Yeah, you're too pretty and too good of a person to be single already, Emi!"

"Whatever! Your just saying that because you're my best-friends! I don't want to be a lonely cat-lady, and I want to have a sweet husband, and I want to be a reliable wedding planner! But no, I'm going screw it all up, because…because I just am…"

I heard Sirius mumble something about being a dog-person, and The Marauders looked at each other awkwardly.

"You can be an amazing wedding planner, and you'll make every one of your customer's happiest day of their life be way better than expected, Em. And being yourself, you'll get a husband who'll really care about you and…" Sirius trailed off, his face slightly flushed. I sobbed a few more times, and looked at him.

"That was sweet…you guys are so supportive...Thanks." I smiled slightly, wiping away more tears. Lily quit laughing and gasped a few times. I finally quit crying, and smiled for real, but then it disappeared once I realized what I'd told The Marauders. "None of that ever happened, understand?"

"U-huh…"

"…Okay, good idea."

"Alright."

"You got it."

"My stomach hurts…and I feel sick."

"Me too…I'm not going to bed after this." Lily piped up.

"Why not?" Peter asked, as lily and I got up. My eyes stung from the dried tears and the many times I'd wiped them.

"Because, I have gone through so much tonight, that I could die from exhaustion right now."

"I agree. I feel amazing."

"I feel like an idiot. Why are you bragging?" I asked rudely. Lily only smiled, and squinted at me. A grin soon appeared on her face. I narrowed my eyes and leaned against the counter, staring at her. I rolled my eyes, but she wasn't afflicted by any of my actions.

"Oh, I'm not. It's all good, girly!" Lily said in sing-song.

"Happy people make me sick…especially you. All of you do!" I said angrily, clenching my fists and crossing my arms. The Marauders seemed to understand what was going on, and didn't argue. James was close to speaking up, but I gave him the death glare and he sort of just backed up a tad bit. He kept his eyes on Lily the entire time, though- making sure she wouldn't get hurt or anything, in any way.

"Aw, I'm sorry! Let's just have a good time!" Lily apologized, giving me a happy thumbs-up.

"No. Shut up and go sit in a corner." I scowled. Lily looked hurt and then she looked angry.

"Well, someone's about to start their period, huh? Cranky as crap, aren't you?"

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. The marauders watched, shocked now. I didn't give a crap though. Lily put a hand on her hip.

"As if I'll let a little girl tell me what to do."

"Peter didn't tell you to do anything; I did." I said, nodding towards Peter, who looked hurt. James stifled a laugh.

"Hey, I-" Peter started, but I cut him off.

"Shut up, Peter; just shut up! I'm trying to talk here!" I said, glaring at him.

"Hey, leave him alone! Pick on someone your own size, shorty."

"That's why I'm picking on Peter, smart one."

"You little…I'm going to…Ugh!"

"Bring it." I said, as Lily flicked me off. Suddenly, I wasn't angry anymore- I was happy. My heart was about to over-flow with joy and pure happiness…

"I'll show you!" Lily started, running towards me. I ran on the other side of the island counter, giggling. Somehow, I thought being chased by an angry girl was fun.

"Are we playing tag? This is fun!"

"No, of course not, 'smart one'. Your still being stupid, though, if that counts."

"Aw, sorry…I just want a good time. I mean, we had super chocolaty cake, and we were about to have some milk to go along! Then everything would be perfect." I explained. Lily stood there, dumb-struck for a moment, and then we both snapped out of it.

"Please, let it be over…" Lily begged.

"I'm a tortured soul." I whined, yawning and almost falling over.

"I know...godric, that was awful. I never want to even think about what just happened.

"What time is it?" Lily asked, as we looked over to The Marauders. Remus checked his watch and looked back up at us.

"It's five 'til 4 a.m." He yawned, stretching. We all passed around a yawn for those last five minutes- no joke.

"Okay, everyone stop yawning!" I said, putting my hands up and stretching again.

"Let's go to bed, alright?"

"Why?" I asked. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "If you drink some coffee, you can stay up for the three hours we have to sleep; Lily- is it worth it?"

"Yeah, it's very worth it. Emi, its sleep." Lily said flatly, looking at me closely.

"Oh gosh, what was I thinking?" I faked, slapping my hand to my mouth. "I'll find something to do."

"Okay, whatever. Suit yourself, chick. I'm going to bed, right now, so I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Lily said, waving me off and leaving the kitchen. Wow, what a crazy night. I like how we all pretend that nothing ever happened.

"What are you going to do?" Peter asked curiously.

"I have no idea." I said, walking over to the fridge and getting a bottle of water. I ran a hand through my hair and looked at The Marauders, who stared back in return. The only person I didn't look at was Sirius, but I occasionally caught him staring at me.

"Well, I guess I'll go to Ravenclaw tower. Night." I said, leaving. Before I closed the kitchen Portrait door, I turned back to them. "And hey, none of this ever happened…It was just a very strange connective dream. Okay?"

They each nodded in reply and went back to the corner they had been in before. I closed the door and snuck to Ravenclaw tower in silence, being careful not to make a sound. If it was actually a bit lighter, I could see…

_Bam!_

I walked straight into a table and a huge vase tumbled off, landing on the side in front of me. I gasped silently and bit my bottom lip, then looked around for Filch. I heard him tapping down the corridor. I quickly ducked into a nice collection of fake ferns, so I was completely hidden from him.

"Alright, Alright…where are you, little twirp?' He said, soon cursing under his breath. "Bloody hell, they always get away just in the nick of time, don't they…Miss Norris?" Filch smiled, showing a toothless grin. As he walked away, I realized that Mr. Filch was a perfect example of a lonely cat man.

I looked around, making sure the coast was clear and made my way out of the fake ferns, then quickly headed to Ravenclaw tower. I gave the password to the Portrait and hurried in, then quietly raced to my dorm. I gently sprawled out onto my bed, a pencil and a red notebook in hand. I turned to the first page of the notebook and began to think of a new 'Prefect Plan' as Lily and I called it. I mean, what else is there to do? There's no way I can go to sleep, now- it's too early! After an hour of this, I'd take a shower and all that stuff. I started writing detail after detail and observation after observation, trying to figure out just how to get Sirius to his sweet potential. I know it's there- and I will find it. See, if I can get him to quit with the massive arrogant-flirting, everything would basically be perfect. If you were in my shoes, you would see how annoying and hectic things can get with me and Sirius.

Like I've said a million times, sometimes I'm in love with the guy, sometime is hate him- just can't stand him. I have to end that, though- I feel like everything would just be better if we weren't always flirting or always fighting. My main 'priority' is to simply get the two of us on like-like terms. You know, love is just so confusing sometimes- it's not even funny. I wrote down some ways to get Sirius' attention:

_Sirius_

_Get favorite scent as a body spray, be sure to walk past him often and get closer when talking so he can take the smell in. _

_Flip hair and look at his lips when he's talking; try to get his attention, but be subtle about it all._

_Try to spark up a conversation on something he really likes; basically try to get his interest._

_All at the same time, act as if you had no idea you were trying to flirt with him, if he ever catches son or if someone else does. Drop off a small hint that you have a sweet crush._

If none of these work, then I'll be forced to break-out the old fashioned way of winning boys over: get the mega-flirt **on**. Tha's straight forward. I'd have to be careful not to do that frenemy-flirting game, though- just normal, fun flirting. Being friends with Sirius (which I'm currently not, even though I'm close to becoming his Lily Evans) will make that ten times harder, but I will have to stick with my plan to get my wishes. Who knows, maybe this will all work out perfectly? Also, I'd have to forget Lily's unusual technique. She thinks that if you continue with the frenemy-flirting, you'll get the guy you want. But, as you can see, that has been an epic fail for me for quite some time. Plus, I'm starting to wonder as to whether or not that only works for boys. I mean, James did it constantly and Lily, well- I think she thought she did it, but she was actually too shy or way too embarrassed to even come close to flirting with James. We all lose our courage, sometimes, when it comes to things like that. Just ask Remus, he'll tell you! Sirius also does this stuff quite often, if you hadn't noticed. That will never get anywhere, so maybe Sirius isn't as good of a flirt as he thinks, after all!

With this, I soon realized that I have become flirt-crazy. Wish me luck…I'm gonna need it.

A/N- Rate, Review, Favorite! Take my poll, if you would! Thanks much, Potter people!(:


	10. Gossip Girls!

A/N- Here's Chapter Ten! Enjoy, enjoy! Thanks so much, Potterheads. (:

Chapter Ten-

"Hey, Emileigha- nice job in the game." Sirius said, jogging up to me. His bangs were plastered to his face with sweat, and he had an arrogant smirk on. I smiled at him and tucked a stray piece of copper hair that had come loose from my ponytail behind my ear.

"That's a step ahead of every team for Ravenclaw, you know." I bragged, winking. Sirius nodded, and gave a boyish smile, while I gave an innocent smile.

"That's true…but it's all because of you…" Sirius said, stepping closer. My face reddened, and I shook my head.

"No, it's all about the whole team- not me…" I said, glancing at the rest of my team. Brandon waved at me, and held up the Snitch I caught and gave to him. I smiled. When I looked back to Sirius, we were face to face.

I could feel his warm breath as he started to lean in and I did the same. Our lips got closer and closer and closer until finally…

_Clink!_

I snapped awake, and looked at my shattered tea-cup on the floor, as Miss Twinkle Trelawney walked over to me, an innocent expression on her face.

"Miss Lupin, dear, did you get some sleep last night?"

"No, none at all."

"Oh my…Well, lunch is only but thirty minutes away…can you wait until my class is over? We're right in the middle of reading the tea leaves and grounds…"

"Yes-" I nodded, yawning.

"Let me get you a new cup of tea, dearie." She left to get me some more tea, and I looked over at Lily who was carefully observing her tea grounds.

"Boy, I hate this class. I don't understand any of it."

"Only those who have the vision of a seer may fully understand the world-"

"No, that's a load of crap, Emi!" Lily shoved the cup to her eye. "I can't figure out what this thing with the tea grounds is supposed to be!"

I looked over at the tea-cup Lily was so focused on.

"It looks like…antlers?" I answered questionably. Lily looked like she had just met Willy Wonka himself. Meanwhile, Miss Trelawney brought me another cup of tea. I immediately started drinking it, trying to get to the tea grounds as fast as possible.

"Oh, thank-you so much, Emileigha! I've been at that since the beginning of class. Your right, it does look like antlers! What about yours?"

I looked down at my tea grounds and the little sip that rested at the corner of the cup. I was shocked to see what looked like…a big wolf. Alright, Remus is a werewolf and all. They're big, and tall- but this one wasn't so tall, just big. And I have my connections.

"What's yours look like?" Lily asked.

"I think it's a wolf…Right?' I said, showing Lily my tea-cup. She looked at it for a minute and looked up at me.

"H- Oh that sucks! Emileigha, that's no wolf- that's a knife!" Lily whispered, looking sorrowful and scared.

"What's the knife mean? I cannot memorize all these…" I asked in a whisper. Lily leaned close to tell me more privately.

"The knife is a sign of broken friendship…" She whispered-screamed. I pulled back and shook my head.

"Lily, it's not that big of a deal. I already know about this broken friendship. Divination is just a bunch of crap- it's all fake, just a tease for the mind. And you don't have to whisper." I explained, shaking the thought off. The knife? Divination sucks- it has predicted the past, not the future. Therefore, I point out that it's all fake and very stupid.

"Hm, your right- Divination is pretty dumb. Must be fake, too, then... I saw a deer or a goat or something in those crystal balls we used last week…What's that supposed to mean, anyways? I haven't seen a deer or a goat or a moose, or...anything, so…" Lily admitted.

"Exactly- point taken." I said, nodding.

"Hey, Lily, what'd you get?"

"What do I see in my tea-cup? Um, antlers. I see antlers- for some odd reason." Lily said, turning to James, who was another person at our table. James' face turned red and he nodded. Okay, I totally see how that makes him blush. Lily just has to mention antlers! Hah, if only things were that easy.

I wish I could mention chocolate and Sirius and I would be best mates or something again. We were still in this fight thing. The worst part? Sirius has no clue what he's done- no clue what so ever. I can't believe him! That bloody little prick…

"Well, uh, Remus got a cat-so that's a deceitful friend or something, Peter got butterflies- that's fickleness, Sirius got a question mark- which means something, and I got a kite, so my wishes will come true!" James said, nodding. He looked at me. "What'd you get, Emi?"

I looked down at my tea-cup, only to see that it had changed. I jumped at first and Lily peeked over questionably. It had changed into a raven, or a crow. Don't ask me how, because I have no idea.

"I got…a raven." I replied, looking at James. I glanced over to see Sirius staring at me. He looked at the floor then back at me apologetically. I just looked back to Lily and James.

"That's weird…"

"Yeah, I had a knife at first. Why do I get all the scary stuff? It's like Edgar Allen Poe has come to haunt me- hoooooo…" I said, waving my fingers at Lily, who laughed at my very-cheesy joke. James chuckled.

"That is weird. Maybe you just have two at the same time and Divination can't think straight?" James suggested, shrugging. Lily shook her head.

"Divination is not a person, James. It's a stupid activity, only idiots should take." Lily said obviously.

"Hey, I think it's kind of cool." James protested, throwing his hands up. I shook my head.

Call me obsessed or nuts if you want, but every time I thought about something, it would backtrack to Sirius, and then I'd feel like a jerk. The more I dwelled on this stuff, the worse my mood got. Finally, I was just one unhappy raven. I leaned back in my seat and worked in my dream journal, writing down my most recent dream. Not the very, very most recent dream with Sirius though. Praise Rowena Ravenclaw that that was just a dream! It felt so real though; it was kind of scary. I won't lie, I sort of liked it. So, I say this again out of the other umpteenth I've said it: Love is crazy, and it sucks!

I didn't say a word to anyone, and just kept writing. In that dream, I had gotten married at Hogwarts, but I didn't even know the guy I was marrying. And instead of doves being released or some sort of thign with birds at the wedding, there were 5 cent hippogriff ridings. Strange, right? I sighed and put my stuff in my bag.

"Hi, Emi-Demi!" Lockhart exclaimed from the other side of the room, standing up and waving. I looked at him and rolled my eyes as he sat down and chattered with his guy-friends (future boyfriends). The bell rung and Miss Trelawney waved goodbye to the entire class, looking at me. I was the first out of the class room, since I was right beside the door.

Just as I thought I was safe from the trauma-drama-rama, I felt an arm slide around my waist and scoot close to me. Lockhart.

"Emi-Demi, Emi-Demi: you look gorgeous today!"

"Oh, lord- what could you possibly want?"

"A kiss would be nice, right? A treat for us both."

I jumped out of his grasp and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He bent over to the side I had slapped him towards and then came back up. People were watching, now- and Lily and James were in the small crowd of maybe ten.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" He screamed. I narrowed my eyes at him and huffed.

I shook my head and people stared for a moment, and then walked away. I guess it wasn't enough drama for them, then! I'm so not surprised, though… Lily and The Marauders slid over to us.

"Oh my gobsmackers! Emi, that was…epic! Holy crap! I can't believe you did that! Yay for seldf defense!" Lily exclaimed, high fiving me, after everyone walked over. If I had known that all I had to do was slap Gilderoy Lockhart, I would have done it a long time ago- and I would be epic, not awesome, because I would have done it too many times to just be 'awesome'. I gave a slight nod. Boy did I feel better, though. Of course, I did still feel like a jerk... just not-

"That was awesome! You have some nice defense going on there!" James said, looking surprised. Remus raised his eyebrows, but he was smiling, looking proud. Peter was laughing with Sirius, who had one of those unbearable smiles on: the ones you couldn't shake off or hold back.

"Stress relief." I grinned, nodding proudly. I wasn't proud that I hurt someone, just that I could actually hurt someone if I really needed to.

"Um… Emileigha?" a familiar voice asked. I turned around to see Brandon Creevey.

"Oh, hi Brandon. How are you?" I asked happily. Okay, maybe my mood had improved.

"Good…t-thanks. I-I was just wondering how-um- I mean, if I could get another schedule? I sort of, err- maybe lost it…" he looked down, as if he thought he was in trouble. I smiled.

"Oh, no problem. Meet me in the Common Room after classes and I'll give you an extra one…after I steal it from Daniel, of course." I winked, tapping his chin. He looked back up with a red face and nodded.

"Oh-oh…okay! I'll see you then…ha-ha…" Brandon said shyly, rubbing his chin. Sirius tapped his chin and pretended to be a girl, actually imitating Brandon. I shook my head at him.

"He thinks you're hot, I know it." Lily said as we started to walk to the Great Hall for lunch, in an all-knowing tone.

"Well, I don't know why."

"Are you saying you're not pretty? I'll bite you, Emileigha Jayne."

"No- I'm fourteen, he's twelve or…Aw man, what if he's thirteen?"

"Then that's your new boyfriend."

"No thanks, I'm good. Single and ready to mingle... speaks to me."

"You'll be a lonely cat lady if you don't get somebody sometime!"

"Oh no…Hey, James- you look good today! Has anyone ever told you that you have really...cute eyes?"

"What?" James asked, shocked. I laughed, while The Marauders sighed in relief- especially Sirius, who had lost most of the colour in his face.

"Just kidding, just kidding!" I exclaimed. Lily looked like her head was about to fly off, and I patted her shoulder, smirking. She rolled her eyes and let a small grin loose. I nodded in approval and she started laughing, along with the rest of us. "Does it seem like I would date James here?"

"Well, it's an open factor." Remus said thoughtfully, shrugging. Lily shook her head and continued walking, so I had to speed up a little to catch up with her. "But don't do it. There's no telling what would happen if a clumsy girl and an arrogant boy got togetehr- especially idf their names are Emileigha and James."

"Oh, shut it Remus!" I laughed. "Hey Lily, I'm thinking about skipping Astronomy tonight…"

"Why? It's always fun."

"It is, but I am so tired that I could fall asleep right now, while walking."

"Oh, I see. What are you going to do when we get out of classes?"

"Sleep, of course. Look at Cassiopeia for me; she should be out by now."

"Yeah, it's getting closer and closer to November. November is probably my favorite month of the year."

"I like December- not because of my birthday, though. I like the snow and I like the cold."

"Why do you like the cold? I get the snow, but the cold?"

"Isn't it so perfect to get inside from the cold snow, to a lit fireplace or a warm bed? And then you drink Heavens water: Hot Chocolate. December is like, the month for cuddling."

"Which sucks, obviously."

"What- Why? It's warmth, Lily, warmth."

"Because you have no one to cuddle with."

"I have books to cuddle with. Lots and lots of books."

"Those won't give off heat."

"So? They're still something to cuddle with."

"A book is non-living."

"But full of living people."

"Once living, with the kind you read."

"Whatever! You know, maybe I need to cuddle up with all my cats." I laughed. Those were the gold conversations I always wanted to have with my best-friends and other friends.

"Well, that was a decent argument. When you argue, though, you have to have more force." James said like a teacher, nodding. We looked back at him and laughed.

Finally, after hiking through seven corridors almost, we all made it to the Great Hall and we took our usual seats at the Gryffindor Table like it was nothing. I immediately grabbed seven cookies.

"Whoa, someone's hungry." Remus said, taking a spoon-full of mashed potatoes and sprinkling salt on them. Peter took some macaroni, two rolls and a corn-cob and started chowing down.

"So hungry. I missed breakfast, because I feel asleep after my shower. Go figure! Now I think need some cake." I said smartly, cutting a piece of chocolate cake- whic was actually half of the cake. I ate it slowly, my heart fluttering with every bite. Dramatization- it's a miracle.

"Hey, I have a confession. If I don't say it now, it's going to kill me."

"Go on…"

"Peter, I stuffed your socks with peanut-butter. I'm sorry, mate- couldn't resist. James, I hid an extra-large carton of butter-beer from you for two weeks. Remus, I glued the pages of your least favorite book together…"

"Yeah, I figured." Remus said, rolling his eyes and laughing. Sirius ran a nervous hand through his black hair, shifting his bangs upward and showing those stormy grey eyes. I was sure I was going to melt at first. Lily snorted and watched closely. Sirius was admitting his crimes, which was very, very, very unexpected of him.

"It's alright mate…I did the same to you." James said thoughtfully, smiling.

"Yeah, I caught you, remember?" Peter said, nodding. One of those 'oh yeah' expressions showed up on Sirius' face.

"Alright, Lily- I have done nothing to you." Sirius nodded.

"And we'll keep it that way, Black." Lily replied.

"Right. Emileigha, I've been a bloody jerk to you, as usual. I'm sorry- really, I am." Sirius said seriously, looking at his hands, which were folded on the table-top. I gave a half-smile, as James, Remus, Peter, and Lily gave their close attention to our talk. Eavesdroppers!

"I forgive you." I said flatly, nodding at him. He sighed in relief.

"I thought you were going to hate me forever after a few days…"

"I didn't hate you, Sirius- just upset with you."

"Wish I knew that before…" he breathed nervously.

"But do you know what you did?"

"Well, I spoiled a nice moment-that's for sure."

"By…?"

"Flirting…uncontrollably." He stated calmly. I laughed.

"Good boy." I said.

"You wanna pet me, don't you?" Sirius urged, changing the subject with a smirk. It was suddenly like nothing had ever happened, which saved us from a quiet, awkward lunch. Thank Godric Gryffindor! That was just enough to lift up my mood for the rest of the day, I think.

"No, I'm good. My dog at home would get jealous." I nodded, grinning.

"He doesn't have to know!" Sirius protested, looking spastic.

"Okay, you guys are making it sound like you're having thoughts of an affair." Lily said, nudging me and kicking Sirius' foot under the table.

"Well, I'm not married- therefore, that's impossible." I said fancily, shaking my head.

"You hear wrong, Lily Evans." Sirius said, mimicking my tone.

"Okay, whatever you say." Lily said, looking off to Alice and Marlene. Marlene looked straight at me and mouthed something, but I didn't understand anything out of it. She gave me a sorrowful look and then narrowed her eyes at Lily, so it had to be something mean about Lily or our friendship or something. Just as I was about to mouth 'what?', a boy came and sat beside Marlene. He was apparently Marlene's boyfriend for this week, since they shared a quick kiss on the lips. Lily huffed and shook her head.

"She is such a drama queen."

"Yeah, me too." I said, nodding apologetically. Lily's eyes widened at my joke.

"What? You are not a drama queen, like Marlene! See, it rhymes- Miss Drama Queen Marlene. Suits her wondrously!"

"We are so freaking mean, sitting here gossiping. Queens of Mean. See, I can also rhyme." I said as Lily nodded sorrowfully. I looked over to see that The Marauders were wrapped in their own conversation. Lily and I decided to eavesdrop, since we both went silent.

" So, that Samuel Mclaggen guy- he was flirting with Darcy Chang. Think they'll date?"

"Yeah, she only has nine other boys wrapped around her finger."

"Let's see what that bloody Niall has to say about that whole deal!"

"Oh Godric, he'll be happy with her."

"But you know, they'll be together three days later-"

"With an exception of Samuel."

"Hah!"

"You know, the lot of them are all pricks."

"They all like those rumors, don't they?"

"You bet, mate! One time James and me were out on the quidditch pitch and we had two girls ask us if we were really a couple. Guess who told them we were."

"Samuel?"

"Samuel- yes- but Darcy and Niall and a few others all spread the entire thing!"

"Bloody hell, what is it with them and the rumors of hot best friends dating? They did that with Gideon and Fabian, even…"

"Oh, and they're even brothers!"

"Pitiful!"

They all paused and looked at us like they had just told their biggest secrets on accident. Lily and I raised our eyebrows at them.

"Well, go on- continue your gossip, girls." Lily said, motioning to them. I laughed and nodded like it was the right thing to do. They stared at us for a minute with pink faces before quietly talking about quidditch.

After lunch, we all headed to D.A.D.A, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. That class was always entertaining in some way.

A/N- Was it good? Review, Favorite, Love! Take my Poll, if you'd be so kind! :)


	11. Hot Chocolate!

A/N- Here's Chapter Eleven! We're in the double-digits, Potterheads! Thanks much, my precious Aura-Lees! Enjoy, Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven-

"Ow…! Lily, help me…Meh…" I moaned, lying on the Gryffindor Common room floor. Luckily, nobody was around to see any of this. Lily was safely sitting in a chair, staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked sternly, pointing a finger at me. I whimpered, pretending to cry without the fake tears. She looked at me like I was hiding in a closet for some odd reason, if you can imagine what that might look like.

"I don't know- Do not ask me. Never." I fired back, pressing my face to the floor. I pulled away as fast as I could once I realized that Gryffindors walked on this very floor, with their feet. Ew.

"Okay, okay- sheesh! Why're you mean to me?" Lily whined, sinking in the chair.

At that moment, I hissed at Lily, like a cat, completely serious. She looked taken aback and started pouting after a short smile. Oh, our dear friendship- the memories it gives us. The Marauders bounded down the stairs and stopped when they saw us.

"Um…What's going on here?" James asked curiously. Everyone else in the room looked at the both of us questionably, tilting their head simultaneously.

"Well, long story short, Emi climbed a tree and she told this hilarious joke. Apparently, I did something funny right after, and when she laughed she fell out of the tree…and landed on her butt." Lily giggled, I glared peppermints at her. What, you've never heard that one before? Well, let me tell you- mint is chocolates worst enemy, so it's not too good. The blokes who invented minty chocolate combinations are...pricks; bloody pricks.

"It hurt so bad…I almost cried. It's all Lily's fault." I said seriously, wincing in remembrance.

"No, I don't think so. But hey- we were laughing, still." Lily nodded, considering the fit of laughter we went into after.

"I'm broken…Now you guys have to carry me everywhere." I said, sitting up and raising my eyebrows at everyone. Lily snorted, and Remus rolled his eyes. James nodded, pretending to go along with it, while Peter and Sirius were giving me an 'okay-but-you-owe-me' look. Well then, I suppose I'm not royal enough to be carried everywhere I go.

"No, you're not broken. Get up, before I jump on you." Lily urged, motioning her hands upward. I shook my head.

"No. Carry me!" I whined as loud as I could.

Lily stood up and ran at me, when she was about to jump on me, I rolled about three times and jumped up in the process, almost falling over. I ran to the other side of the room and took her seat in the comfy arm-chair she had. I got lucky- it was still warm.

"Hey! That's my seat, little Mrs. Up, up!" Lily ordered, walking over to me. I shook my head, giving her a 'you-think-you're-smart-I-guess' look.

"I'm not little, and I am not a Mrs. I shall not be a Mrs until I am happily married to the man of my dreams." I said fancily, holding my pinky up. The Marauders watched in interest.

"And what kind of man might that be?" Lily huffed, grinning. Sirius perked up, and Remus was watching me like a hawk.

"I'm a man! And I'm in lots of dreams. Am I in any of yours, love?" Sirius nodded spastically.

"No…Am I in any of yours? I'm a young woman, but, you know..." I fired back, smirking. He raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"Only most of them. Sometimes I have dreams about the whole lot of us, not just you." Sirius said casually.

"I knew it." I said sarcastically, laughing.

"Yeah, I figured it too. You do talk in your sleep, mate." Peter announced, thinking the topic was mean to be for-real. Sirius' face turned bright red, and I felt my cheeks turn pink.

"Peter!" Sirius growled, face-palming himself.

"Oh lord…" Remus and James said in unison, shaking their heads.

"Oh gosh…I wasn't supposed to say that, I take it." Peter said nervously.

"Oh no, you were supposed to tell the whole school that." Sirius groaned quietly.

"Well, pretend I said nothing." Peter decided, throwing his hands up.

"I think I'll hold onto that, actually." I said, winking at Sirius. He rolled his eyes.

"Aw…Sirius has dreams about his crushy-wushy!" Lily said as if she were talking to a baby. Sirius narrowed his eyes on her.

"It was a joke, Evans." He growled.

"And you simply talk in your sleep, mentioning Emileigha. Alright, it was definitely a joke, Black. Admit it!"

"Alright, Lily- leave him alone. You know, it's Sirius' birthday in six days." I smiled, as Sirius sighed in relief. He winked at me afterwards, of course.

"Yeah- I'll be sixteen and sexy as ever." Sirius mentioned, fist bumping James. "Does that persuade you towards the notion of dating me?"

"No, not really. I'm still little, as Lily says. I don't know if a sixteen year-old is good enough for a little fourteen year-old." I laughed. Sirius went from waggling his eyebrows to smirking.

"And like a month after, you turn fifteen." Sirius said, nodding confidently with squinted eyes. I shook my head and pointed at him.

"No." I said, now shaking my finger at him. The Marauders sat all around in the common room, Sirius sitting on the couch closest to me.

"What'd I do?" he asked, sticking his bottom lip out with a puppy-pout. I almost couldn't resist that face, but I fought it over.

"I will not go out with you." I said, looking at him expectantly. He changed his expression to a mad puppy-pout.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because." I replied, running a hand through my hair with a smirk.

"Because Why?" He whined desperately.

"Because, because." I retorted, still smirking. Sirius rolled over on the couch, so he was lying on his back. He stared at the ceiling, now.

"Fine, fine." He laughed. We were both quiet for a second, thinking. Lily was busy talking with James about something, but whatever it was, it was making her smile. "Hey, do you wanna go outside?"

"Outside? And do what?" I asked curiously, thinking that the idea sounded good.

"Go for a walk around campus?"

"Okay, sure. Wait- only if we get hot-chocolate after."

"Alright, sounds good. Do you have a coat here?"

"No, but I can get one from Rav-" I was cut off as Sirius ran upstairs. He bounced back down with two of his coats, an arrogant and proud smile on his face. He put one on and gave the other one to me.

"It'll be kinda big because, well, you're a girl. Plus, your small." He breathed. I put his jacket on and it was pretty big…but I felt so warm in it, it was like I was wearing five fluffy sweaters, even though this coat was fairly thin. I zipped it up and put my hands in the pockets and winked.

"I look fabulous!" I exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up. Sirius nodded in agreement and laughed. "Lily, I'm going for a walk."

"Huh? Okay. Stranger Danger." Lily said, not really noticing me, and waving me off. I shrugged and turned on my heel as Sirius opened the portrait door for me. We stepped out into the corridor, then preceded our journey _to the outside_.

When we got outside, it was pretty chilly. The ground was rock hard, from where the frost had been, and the leaves crunched as we walked around the edge of the Black Lake.

"So…" I started, not knowing what to talk about. Today was sunny, but that was ruined by a fairly strong, cold breeze. The Whomping Willow was twisting like mad today, swaying back and forth with the breeze.

"So…Uh…I don't know what to say. Do you…play an instrument?"

"Violin and Ukulele. I can do a few songs on the piano, but I have to do it slowly. You?"

"Never tell anyone, but my Mum and Dad make me and Regulus play the piano. It's a dumb family thing, I guess…the blokes."

"That's awesome…really! Are you good?"

"Dunno. I might be; it's one of those things were you can't really decide if your good by listening to yourself."

"I see…What's a song you play often? Or your favourite?"

"Um…Well, my favourite is Fur Elise, because it starts softly, and it's gets exciting in the middle, then back to soft, then back to exciting and finally soft again, but with something special." Sirius said interestingly. Honestly, I hadn't known that he played the piano- and I wouldn't have guessed if he hadn't brought music up. I wouldn't have ever expected him to play it actually, because Sirius always seemed like a go-with-the-flow, prankster kind of guy who wouldn't take an interest in the piano or something.

"Yeah? I like that one too, but my favourite is Moonlight Sonata. My mum used to play that, a lot." I said in return.

"So she could play piano?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yeah- she was really good at it, too. That was one song I can remember…she played all the time."

"Nice…" Sirius smiled. See, for a moment I thought, 'look how cute that smile is' and then I thought about something else: Sirius knows my weaknesses, and lots of things about me. Crap. Maybe I shouldn't trust that smile. "You know, it's not often that we have serious, no pun intended, conversations."

"Yeah…" I breathed, looking at the frozen lake. "Have you ever been ice-skating, Sirius?"

"Ice-skating? No; is it a muggle thing?"

"Yeah, me and Remus go all the time during winter. It's like wearing roller-skates, except instead of the wheels, there are blades. Then you skate on a frozen lake or ice-rink. It's lots of fun…Remus and I'll have to take you, James, Peter, and Lily sometime."

"Yeah? Sounds fun. The problem is, I suck at roller-skating. Tried it once, then I thought I broke something." Sirius laughed, smiling down at me. As he looked down at me, I realized how short I am compared to him. He was a good head taller than me…

"Yup…Well, I don't really know what else to say. Any ideas?" I asked, looking back to the Lake, then to the Whomping Willow.

"Welp…It's cold." Sirius said flatly. I looked at him. "That's the best I've got to offer."

"Do you like the cold?" I asked, burying my hands deeper into the pockets of Sirius' jacket.

"Sometimes. I can't stand it when you get in the snow and then it feels like you've got frostbit." Sirius said thoughtfully, making a motion with his fingers. He shoved them into his jean's pockets.

"Me either. That's the only bad thing about snow, I think. Snow is awesome." I nodded.

"You really do like your snow." Sirius chuckled.

"You bet I do." I replied happily. He looked at me again, questionably.

"Why do you like it so much?"

"Aside from me **simply always** liking it, there's not much I can say. If it ever snowed enough, me, Remus, and our Mum would always be out there for as long as we could last in the cold. It was always lots of fun. So, maybe it's something to do with my Mum?"

"Sounds fun. See, I've never gotten these kind of memories with my parents- their just bloody blokes. No fun with them." Sirius sighed. He smiled after a few minutes in silence, out of nowhere, and I just had to smile back. I rubbed my hands together and shivered as we ended our round of the Black Lake.

"Are you ready to go back inside? I'm near freezing." I asked, smiling. Sirius nodded.

"Sure." He said, as we walked towards the castle. "Do you want my coat?"

"No, we're almost to the castle. I wouldn't take it anyways- it's way too cold out here." I smiled.

"I wouldn't mind, really- I have a sweater on under this anyways." Sirius smirked.

"You're such a flirt." I teased, as Sirius winked mid-sentence.

"Eh, I wasn't flirting; just being my naturally nice self." Sirius nodded confidently.

"Oh, I see." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes with a smirk.

We walked to the castle and back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Sirius let me go in first, and the very first thing I saw was Lily, who was fast asleep on James' shoulder. James had his head leaned over on top of Lily's and Peter was asleep in the floor. Remus was asleep on the couch beside the fireplace, a book open on his lap. Sirius stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and looked at everyone, then smiled.

"Huh…guess they were tired, huh?" Sirius said. As soon as he said the word 'tired' I yawned, and then he yawned, and it came back to me. I hate the power of yawning!

"Yeah…I think I am too." I said, stretching. I took Sirius' jacket off and gave it to him, and I was immediatley less warm.

"Now that I have to think about it, I am too. Can you do me a favor and grab those D.A.D.A books?"

"Sure. Taking them to your dorm?"

"Yeah- For once in my life, I've decided to study." Sirius said, picking up a few other things, such as a book-bag and a roll of parchment. Man, The Marauders leave a lot of stuff in the Common Room. Wonder what they'd do if their homework got stolen? …Stupid question- they would obviously copy off Remus!

"In some subject you already rule at, of course." I laughed, as Sirius nodded in approval, a 'yeah-I-guess-you-could-say-that' look upon his face. We started heading up the stairs to the boys' dorms. Now, why aren't the stairs to these dorms just like the girls'? Not that I have a problem with it, it's just...weird. As we sat the books down in The Marauders' dorm, I shivered and looked out the window. Their room was a bit messy, except for what I recognized to be Remus' part. James had Quidditch accesories sprawled on his bed, Sirius had shirts on the floor, and Peter just had everything on the floor. I heard Sirius jump onto his bed, making the well-kept comforter fall to the floor, somehow. He rolled his eyes and picked it up, throwing it over the bed again. He stole a soft blanket out of the dorm closet and placed it on one half of the bed. He got under the blanket, and held up the comforter. I shrugged and kicked off my shoes, then got in. At first it was cold, but then Sirius pulled me towards him and it was pretty warm. I nuzzled my face into his chest and he put his head on top of mine.

"You smell really good. Cherries... " Sirius said quietly, as his breathing got slower and slower. We lay there in silence for a moment, until Sirius fell asleep. I almost fell asleep, too, but there was something keeping me awake. I think it was just that I was really happy. Firstly because my plan was falling into place just perfectly, and there wasn't a scratch on it. I'd sprayed some cherry-champagne body spray on this morning after a hot shower, and Sirius apparently could smell me. Also, I had managed to get his interest in music by asking him if he played anything. Secondly, I was just plain happy. What really surprised me was that my heart wasn't in Canada by now, considering that it should have been beating out of my chest, and that my face wasn't red. I was actually being…normal! And hey, for me, that's a tough position to hold…normal...Lily could say the same thing though, so I'm not alone. (She would kill me for even thinking that!)

In addition to my second-state of happiness, I recently saw that there was a new project in Muggle Studies: putting on a play! Each different year (1 through 7) was to vote on what piece of literature they wanted a play on and would have try-outs for the people who wanted to be in it. Fifth year hadn't voted yet, but I know what I would want: Othello! Othello is my favourite story in the history of history, next to Sherlock Holmes and a few others, of course. My favourite character is Desdemona, of course, so I would definitely try-out for her. Sure, I might have a bit of stage-fright, but I'll get over that once I'm up there on-stage and realize there's no turning back. Acting could be good for me…right? Finally a way to express the drama here in Hogwarts!

-Note to self: make posters saying 'Vote Othello- He's our fellow!' on them, to encourage the play.

I think James would make a good Cassio, for some reason, too! And guess who could be Othello himself? Sirius Orion Black! Later this weekened, I will be adding to my list:

_Get Sirius to try out for Othello, if Fifth year puts the play on._

Mwahaha…I smiled to myself at my brilliant idea. Not just the awesome poster idea, but the entire thing. But, admit it, the psoter's are totally kick-arse. I know Sirius doesn't like that kind of stuff, though. I mean, if you wouldn't go to a boys and girls dance, would you try-out for a play about love? Probably not, I would think. Then again, I'm not a boy- so I don't know. I'll stick with my theory, though. My eyes started to get heavy but I still couldn't go to sleep. Then it hit me: What will Remus do when he sees us?

The best thing he could do is kill us…I had thoughts of getting up, but when I tried, Sirius would almost wake up. I couldn't bring myself to wake him up, though- so I gave up.

"Sirius, Remus is going to _kill_ us. Or worse." I said. I could somehow tell Sirius was smiling, just because I had a lucky feeling. I would smile too, if this was a smile-worthy topic.

"Remus? Remus can…get over it…" he mumbled into my hair. I smirked, knowing that we'd be in some deep trouble by Remus, the King of over-protected-ness, but also knowing that this was one of those moments you always want to hold on to. It's not often you get these, you know?

I started to drift off and on, waking up occasionally after hearing footsteps walking down the hall way. Then I decided that I didn't care what happened, as long as I could keep this memory of being warm…and snug…and cuddling… with Sirius Black.

Before I finally feel into a deep sleep against Sirius' chest like that, I remembered something so important, that i could've cried for forgetting it…

We never got our hot-chocolate!

A/N- Sorry, it's a tad bit shorter than the others! I hope you liked this chapter! Review, Favourite, love, and take my poll~! :)


	12. A Good Friend!

Chapter 12-

I walked around Hogsmede, humming Fur Elise. Today was Sirius' birthday, and I decided to get him the best birthday-present ever. My problem? What am I supposed to get him? I know lot's about him, but nothing is awesome enough, really.

Lily was off chatting with James at Madame Puddifoots, on what she said was a 'talk', but I knew better. I assumed they were really on a date, of course. What am I saying- I know they're on a date! Sirius and Remus and Peter were somewhere around here; I had seen them about ten minutes ago, but I dodged behind a sign so they didn't see me. Of course, I had no reason to do that. Who knows, maybe Remus would bark at me like he had for the past six days. Sirius and me got yelled at a lot for taking a nap…Honestly, Remus should chill out and keep his Knickers neatly un-twisted! What was wrong with that? It was a sleepy day, on separate sides of the bed, and Sirius was above the covers. Remus, Remus, Remus…

I was nearing the end of the cobblestone street I was walking down, when I saw a newer looking shop (I'd been down this street a few times, after all), called 'Completely Quidditch'. In the front window there were full-body mannequins modeling Quidditch padding and accessories, one a boy and one a girl. I walked inside the shop, noting that it looked practically cavernous compared to what the outside looked like. There must've been an enlarging enchantment on the building. Quidditch-related things lined the walls and shelves. There were signed moving-pictures of great quidditch players, most that I recognized, who greeted the people who walked by them, and Quidditch Magazines covered the front of the check-out desk. There were new brooms that had been magically displayed above the shelves, and Snitches buzzed around the ceiling. I looked to my left to see lots of different Quidditch Crates, which is what held all the Bludgers, Snitches and Quaffles. A guy who looked about twenty nodded his head at me as he was checking some people out at the register. I smiled back and started walking around the store, and boy did I see some things that I wanted!

What really got my attention was the latest broom- The ThunderStreak390. It had top notch speed, up to 150 miles per hour (which was totally against wizarding laws if you used that speed in public…), and it came with a waxed coat on the handle, not to mention sterling silver gears on the bristle-part. The bristles were still a hay colour, of course, but that didn't really matter. In a Quidditch Game, I could smoke the other team! First I'd let my team get about a hundred sixty points, and then I'd get the Snitch before the other team's Seeker could even spot it. Praise Helena for my good eye, right?

I scanned aisle after aisle until I spotted it- the perfect gift for Sirius. It was a Beater stick, but there was something special about it. When you pick it up, it seems ordinary, but when you hit the Bludger (as I read on a card attached with the price), it turns gold. You know you can't say that that isn't awesome. Even I would be styling with that. I mean, with every hit you'd get a glimpse of gold…Wow! It actually wasn't that much for something so cool, just 35 Galleons, 9 Sickles, and twelve Knuts.

With one of those 'Oh-I-finally-did-it' smiles, I took the stick up to the check-out counter a paid for it, also picking up an issue of '_Quidditch: 'Players' and the_ _Game_', a magazine I worshipped full of cute Quidditch players, Quidditch tips, and the latest Quidditch style plus more, and about ten packs of Chocolate-filled Chocolate Snitches. Chocolate snitches half the size of a real Snitch; filled with chocolate…it couldn't get better than that.

After leaving the store, I walked down the cobble-stone street again, clutching the package with my purchase in it, but stopped to tie my brown oxford pumps. I was actually a little tall today- what a change! I wore faded peach-coloured jeans, a crème button-up shirt, and a brown sweater that was a size bigger than what I really was. Today I had curled my hair and wore a brown beanie to go along. I took a short-cut to Madame Puddifoot's, first taking a left turn down an alley where Cherry Willows dotted around the sidewalk I decided to take, and there were bunches of Cosmo's everywhere. I swear, I could almost smell them there were so many! I walked into the back entrance of Madame Puddifoot's, being greeted by some friendly workers. Secretly, I bet they hated their job…

I looked around for Lily and James, only to see a certain boy sitting alone with a cup of tea, looking horrible and sad… Amos Diggory. He looked over at me, and his look completely changed. He nodded for me to come over, motioning to the chair in front of him also. I looked around one last time, then carefully went to sit with him. I awkwardly sat down and we just stared at each other for a minute.

"So, Amos…What's wrong?" I asked, noting that his eyes were red and puffy. Oh please don't tell me he's been crying…

"My girlfriend, Jenna, dumped me…I-I can't do anything without her…" He sniffled. I just felt my emotions soften, I think.

"Why'd she break up with you?" I asked as if I was talking to a ten year-old.

"I don't know…It was that Niall guy!" Amos rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry…" I said, patting his arm. He sniffled again and exhaled deeply.

"It's okay, I guess… I just need a friend right now. She was my everything, man! We did everything together. Now…now all that's ruined!" he complained, throwing his hands up. The waiters and waitresses here were giving us weird looks, and I really needed to get going. There's no way I can just be like 'Yeah, I gotta go. Bye.' Right now!

"What did she say to you?" I asked, looking at my package.

"She said she wanted to talk at first, and then we started talking about something completely different than what I thought we'd talk about, and then finally out of the blue she says 'look, I don't think this'll work out.', then she left! I just sat here and then I guess I started crying some…" he said, getting quieter and quieter with every word until he was whispering. I gave a half-smile, closer to a frown and he did the same.

"Well, you know what? You're a…good guy." I said with a tad bit of struggle. "You don't have to worry about losing one girl, just think- who else do you like? There's only five million here at Hogwarts. Get to know her, and then… maybe you'll both develop feelings for each other."

Amos looked up from where he had his head practically on the table. I raised my eyebrows as he started to sit up, running a hand through his hair and fixing his shirt collar.

"Well, there is this one girl I like a lot." He said like it was nothing. I nodded.

"Who is it, then?" I asked curiously. What, can't a girl snoop in some love lives? Then she can create more drama! Great.

"Well, it's you." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Me?" I asked, surprised yet not surprised.

"Yes, you." He nodded.

"Me, Emileigha Jayne Lupin?" I stalled. He forced a laugh.

"Yes, you Emileigha Jayne Lupin." He smiled, shaking his head.

"Me, Emileigha Jayne Lupin the first?" I asked, still stalling.

"Yes, you Emileigha Jayne Lupin the first…" he said unsurely, noting what I was trying to do.

"Me, Emileigha Jayne Lupin the first, manager at Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory?" Stalling some more, as you can see. I don't work at Willy Wonka's…yet.

"…Yes…I-" I cut Amos off.

"Sorry, I have to be going. It's my friend's birthday…" I said, jumping up out of the chair and practically running to the door. I whipped it open and started jogging down the sidewalk gain until I made it to The Three Broomsticks. I'll never do that again. See, if I had just looked in the window and let people think I was a stalker creep or something, I wouldn't be liked by Amos and I would've, well, been caught in that entire situation. Now Remus is going to kill me, then Sirius is going to yell at me, then Lily will squeal and burst my eardrums. Crap. I pushed open the door and walked inside, looking around for James and Lily, or anyone else I knew.

"Emileigha!" I heard someone call from behind, a way back. I turned around to see Marlene flailing her arms, like she does all the time to get my attention. I sighed and walked over then sat down as Marlene and her other friends scooted over. I'm not trying to brand people or groups, but this group of girls, they were the popular girls, and everyone knew it. I was often kidnapped by them and Marlene, so they could do my hair and makeup and stuff at their will. Scary…

"Hi, Emi! How're you?" Marlene asked. I smiled at her as the rest of the girls stared at me happily. I was on the spot, now.

"I'm good. How're you girls?" I replied. Marlene had a huge smile on now, but there was a creepy deviousness in her eyes, I could see it.

"Good- You remember Briley, Claire, Madison, Lindsay and Megan, right?"

"Yeah..." I lied awkwardly, smiling for the ninth time. What are they going to do to me this time? I'm serious, I have been attacked by these people once or twice…attacked with makeup that I don't need or wear and way-too-strong perfume and eye-blinding shiny sequins.

"Listen…Lily's been a…witch lately. We've all noticed. But we're here for you, no troubles! We want you to join our group. Populars, pops, poppies- whatever you want to call us. Megan, tell Emi here why we want her in our group." Marlene ordered, pointing her finger at who must've been Megan. 'Megan' looked scared, if you ask me.

"Um…Y-you're really pretty, and…and all the hottest guys ask you out! Yeah…" she answered quickly, nodding with every syllable.

"Plus…? Claire, answer." Marlene demanded. Claire nodded coolly.

"You have a great fashion sense. You're totally well-known through-out the entire school." Claire said flatly, acting all bad-girl. Yes, your in a pink mini skirt. 'Bad-girl, bad-girl whatcha gonna do'…

"Lindsay, what do you have to say?" Marlene asked strictly. Lindsay smiled.

"You'll be the first Prefect to ever be in the Populars!" Lindsay said excitedly, giggling with the rest of the girls. Marlene nodded to another girl, her eyes slightly squinted.

"Briley?" she said.

"Everything about you is 100% in the Popular criteria. Not even all of us are at a top 100." Briley Said thoughtfully as everyone else nodded in agreement, thinking about what she just said. Marlene looked me expectantly.

"So, what do you say? Once in a life-time chance for you to be popular."

"Look, Marlene- we're friends, and you know that. But I can't ditch a friend for a whole other group of friends. Thanks for the offer, it's nice that you would want me to be in your…group, though." I said flatly, running a hand though my hair. Marlene sighed and folded her hands on the table just like the rest of the girls, then she leaned back.

'I was afraid you'd say that. That's why I've decided to let you come whenever you like. Surely you'll come sometime. Well…bye, for now, I guess." Marlene reasoned. The rest of the girls whispered something like 'good choice', I think.

"Okay…bye." I said awkwardly, raising my eyebrows. I got up form the table and they each immediately started gossiping again. Just as I was heading for the door, Lily and the Marauders walked through.

"Friends…!" I whispered, hugging as many of them as I could. "I missed you so much! Where were you?"

Sirius was the first to hug back. He sighed and ruffled my hair when I pulled away, then put his arm around my shoulders.

"We were at HoneyDukes, Em. We couldn't find you, and then Lily here was about to through a fit, so we had to go inside." Sirius sighed, then laughed. I gave him one of those 'oh-my-godric-you're-such-a-jerk-and-I-went-thrugh-so-much-trouble-to-get-to-you' looks, if that's even possible, then turned to Lily.

"You're so mean, Lily." I pouted, giving her the puppy-dog pouty-eyes. She laughed and put a hand on her hip then nodded to Sirius.

"He's not done, Emi." She said. I looked back at Sirius like he was Willy Wonka, with a huge smile on. The first thing he did was bust out laughing, and then I joined in. James, Remus, peter, and Lily looked at us like we were nuts, since they couldn't see what I did.

"Okay, okay- I'm sorry. That…that was uncalled for." I said, laughing in-between words. Sirius finally quit laughing and took a deep breath, then opened his coat to reveal an over-stuffed inside pocket full of packaged chocolate wands. I looked up at him and smiled, and he nodded, eyes squinted half-way. We all got a table and ordered a butterbeer. Hey… why don't they have chocolate butterbeers, anyways…?

"You're such a good friend, Sirius." I said patting his head. He laughed with everyone else.

"I'd be an even better _boy_friend." He said, waggling his eyebrows. I nodded and raised my eyebrows.

"Really now?" is aid, giving him an incredulous look. He nodded in agreement.

"Yup, it's true. Wanna give it a try?"

"No thanks, I'm okay." I said thoughtfully.

"Why?" he whined.

"Because." I said softly, shaking my head with a smirk.

"Okay, okay…" he sighed. A smirk soon appeared on his face. "You know the chocolate is on the other side of my coat, Em. You'll have to lean over me to get it. Then it'll be like your holding me! Whaddya know?" He said smoothly.

"Why can't you just hand it to me…?" I whined. Sirius put his arm around me again as Madame Rosemerta sat our drinks down for us and left the bill.

"I'm too lazy." He groaned, leaning his head back on the booth seat with a smirk.

"Fine…I guess you're not a good friend." I said jokingly. He laughed.

"I am. I just have a desire for you to hold me." He said like we were in some cheesy romance novel. I might've read one too many of those over the Summer…

"Shouldn't that be my desire? I'm a girl, and you're a really masculine guy, so..." I trailed off. Sirius nodded and winked with a shrug.

"If you want it to be, love. It's cool for a girl to hold a guy, right?" he smirked.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm still okay, darling." I smiled.

"Are you absolutely positive that you don't want to hold me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and giving my an expectant look.

"Yes, yes I am." I replied, patting his hand. He sighed, but then lit up again.

"Has anyone told you that you look beautiful today?" he flirted, changing the subject.

"No, they haven't. Why, would you like to compliment me?" I asked, winking. Sirius waggled his eyebrows some more and dumped all the Chocolate Wands in front of all of us. I pulled the Chocolate Snitches out and sat them in the middle of the table, too, keeping one for myself and giving one to Sirius.

"Yeah- you look beautiful today, Em. You look beautiful every day, but you know... Now you have to give me a compliment in return." Sirius said slowly, tapping my cheek. I laughed. We were in our own little world, obviously- and I can't say that I don't like this world.

"Well…Sirius, you are the prettiest guy I know." I said flatly, emphasis on the 'prettiest'.

"The prettiest guy you know or the prettiest guy ever?" he asked dramatically, giving me his best smile. I swear, I came close to almost-melting.

"I don't know- that Victor Lance is awfully pretty…" I teased.

"What? That Professional Quidditch player? No way! I'm way better-looking than him, Emileigha!" Sirius said, shooting up. I motioned for him to chill out and laughed again.

"Chill out, I'm just kidding. Yes, you're the prettiest guy ever. Happy?"

"Hm…I guess so... Okay, here, you're the cutest girl in the world. Now we're even…somewhat even, I mean." He corrected, pointing at me.

"Aw, do I have to give you another compliment?" I asked, tapping his chin. He grabbed my hand and put it on his cheek with a devious smirk.

"If you want to, I mean- it's only fair…" he said innocently, giving me a matching expression.

"Okay, you are a star Quidditch player. A star." I nodded proudly.

"Well, thank-you, love. You're probably the best Seeker this school has seen." He replied.

"Nah- don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not that good." I stated.

"Yeah, you are." He argued.

"No, I'm not." I retorted, pinching his cheek slightly.

"Well, think what you like, but I know you are!" he smiled, giving me my hand back.

"Hey! Hey, you two!" Lily and James screamed, getting our attention. I sighed with Sirius.

"What is it, Lily?" I asked, looking over at her. Sirius started to pull me closer to him, but I turned around just in time. He made a joking 'ugh'.

"_While you two were lost in your little compliment game_, Marlene and her little friends kept doing their usual point-and-gossip-because-we're-snobs routine. I can hear them from over here; they're just trying to be…witches! Let's go."

"But…but…okay." I teased as Lily gave me the death glare. I would have to tell her about the entire Marlene offer tonight, before she finds out on her own and kills everyone in her path of fiery red-head destruction. I climbed over Remus to get out first, and he laughed, getting out behind me. We all headed out the door after we each paid for our butterbeer, except for Sirius, since James covered his pay.

Pretty soon, we were all walking out toward the carriages. Sirius and I stayed back and let Remus, Peter, James and Lily get ahead of us so we could be alone. Funny thing, we didn't even plan this. Or maybe he did...I don't know. I smiled up at Sirius as he put his arm around my shoulders again.

"So…Happy Birthday, Sirius!" I said, giving him a tight side hug. He laughed and I stayed in that position.

"Thanks, Em. It's been a pretty awesome day." He smiled, giving me a hug back. "But, it's always a good day when you have all these awesome friends who really care about you, you know? My parents totally just ignored me today. I…I mean, I wasn't expecting a letter anyways, but then I started thinking: I'm their first-born kid, first-born son. Do they care? No. Do they care when it's Regulus' birthday? Yes, very much. It feels really weird to know that your own parents don't love you. I know they don't…" Sirius sighed, looking away from me.

"…Well, you know what? Me, Lily, James, Remus, and Peter- we all love you to bits, Sirius." I said, leaning into him. He smiled at me. "And here, this is for you." I handed Sirius the brown paper package with his epic present in it.

"Did you seriously get me something? You didn't have to, Em- really." Sirius said, giving me a sorry look, but smirking. I laughed and shook my head.

"Of course I did!" I said happily. "Open it before I explode." Sirius shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, then started to open it. When he did open it, he was totally amazed. He picked it up and looked at it, and the street lights made it sparkle, and it looked nice, and galvanized. "Squeeze it really hard." When he squeezed it as hard as he could, it turned bright gold then he lessened his grip and it went back to the galvanized black. That was something cool about it, too- it was black instead of usual brown. Sirius was giving me a 'wow-why-are-you-doing-this-to-me-now-I-might-faint' look and I smiled. "I think that look says that you like it, right?"

"Oh my Godric, yeah! So it flashes gold every time it's on impact…That's…I love it, Em. I just love it. Thanks…" Sirius smiled, and then he stopped walking and looked around. "Where's your brother?"

"I think he's already in a carr-" I was cut off when Sirius pulled me into a huge tight hug, not your average half-hug. I hugged back after a few seconds and we just stood there for a minute, and Sirius kissed my forehead gently.

"You're a good friend, Em."

A/N- My Poll awaits! Rate, Review, and Love! Next Chapter, coming up soon! :)


	13. Worst Case Scenario!

Chapter Thirteen-

Today was a cold day, and it happened to snow a few times. I was in Charms, staring out the window, wishing I was outside. Not that I don't love Charms, of course- I love all my classes. Some I like more than others, though.

I was alone, in the back corner of the room, without Lily to sit by me. Hey, I'd even be happy with Remus sitting by me- as long as it wasn't Sirius' brother, Regulus. But, with my lucky luck, it was. See, today there was some crazy mix up with the schedule due to OWLS and NEWTS and all. We had classes an hour later than usual and Gryffindor got paired up with Hufflepuff, while Ravenclaw was paired with Slytherin for classes. Great. There's one other half-blood in Slytherin: Severus Snape. And today, he's being a bloody jerk. It's obviously to impress his little pure-blood friends, so it's double the pitifulness. Slytherin's don't like most half-bloods, which is why nobody was talking to me, basically. I didn't know many of the other Ravenclaws, so they were surely out of the question. Plus, I was surrounded by Slytherins. Regulus hadn't said anything to me; he just looked at me a few times. In Charms today, we were supposed to be studying for an exam. Not bragging or anything, but…I've already memorized what I really needed to know. Piece of chocolate cake. That's why I was looking out the frosty window and not getting called on. Professor Flitwick was at his desk, reading a raggedy novel. I squinted to see it…all I could make out was that it was a Shakespeare deal. Which means my fellow, Othello, is in there, surely! Speaking of that, we'll be voting Monday! I have successfully put posters all around the school. All around the school.

"I'm sorry, you look so familiar. Are you friends with Sirius Black, perhaps?" Regulus asked, stealing another glance at me. He held his gaze for a moment but looked back at his hands once I turned from the window.

-Regulus had a different...approach than Sirius. More easy-going, maybe. He had the same black hair as Sirius, except it was straight, and he kept it sleeked back with gel. Instead of those stormy grey eyes Sirius also had, Regulus had dark blue eyes. He had the same lip-shape as Sirius and he had a nice, chiseled face. He wasn't too bad looking, honestly. He was shorter than his brother, but that's still really tall for me- maybe about 5'7''?

"Yeah, we're good friends." I replied.

"Alright, then you must be the infamous Em Lupin. Correct?" he asked, nodding. Me, infamous? Would he know me, anyways? It's not like I don't like that, it's just weird since we've never talked before. Please, I can't take another Lockhart…I can't.

"Uh-huh… I wouldn't call myself 'infamous', of course. I don't mind being of high respect, though." I nodded jokingly. The least I could do was be friendly and funny, right? It's only polite. He gave a smirk that was completely opposite of Sirius'- it was a smile that meant 'fun', definitely not 'bad-boy', if you know what I mean.

"Hm, it seems that you're 'all the buzz' at Sirius' and I's home. I'm his brother, Regulus Black. Pleasure."

"Hi..." I said awkwardly, giving a friendly smile. That smile turned into a curious one afterwards, though. "You said I'm all the buzz?"

"With Sirius himself, I mean. He's told me lot's about you. Especially your smarts: You sound like quite the bookworm…Fit perfectly into Ravenclaw… You know, Sirius seems to have quite an interest in you. Then again, I can't say that I don't either." Regulus said, raising his eyebrows. My eyes widened, and at that exact moment the bell rung. I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the room as quick as possible, while Regulus leaned against the desks as a good-bye.

No! This cannot be happening! If Regulus likes me…and Sirius finds out…then there will be the worst fight between us in the dramatic history of Hogwarts itself. (Sirius told me that he specifically hated his family; that they were all the same.)I don't want our friendship toe end! It's fun to play with Sirius! And if Sirius and I get in a fight, what if Peter and James and Remus get mad at me or something? Then James could have the option to tell Lily about the mess, and then Lily would despise me! Pretty soon, it'd go all around Gryffindor that I have the Slytherin's attention…then Ravenclaw would partly dislike me! I can't stand it when people are mad at me. It makes me want to cry in bed while eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's chocolate ice-cream, which isn't so good for your health. Oh, what am I saying- I practically go to town with imaginary Willy Wonka's ever day! Agh!

Okay…I'm being way too dramatic. There's already enough drama in this school, anyways. (I seem to not be able to get over that…) My friends wouldn't hate me. I'd tell them how much I loved them and how much they mean to me until they liked me the least bit again. Anyways, I just need to chill out. Why does it matter if Regulus possibly likes me anyways? Maybe he just has a friendly interest? I'll explain everything to Sirius at Dinner tonight.

I walked down the Hallway, only to see Lily, James, and Sirius. Peter and Remus were nowhere to be seen. I kept my head down and started hide around some tall people, but they spotted me just in time to run up to me and immediately start talking.

"Hey, Emi!" Lily greeted.

"Hey…guys…" I said, tucking a wave of copper hair behind my ear. Lily eyed me suspiciously.

"Spill it."

"I have nothing to spill."

"You're such a bad liar, Emi."

"I'm serious."

"No, he is." James said seriously, pointing at Sirius and then smiling. Lily rolled her eyes and smiled, while Sirius shook his head at the bad joke. I stifled a laugh. I really do suck at lying, then? That explains a lot.

"I can tell you have something juicy on your mind. Tell me."

"No way, gossip girl." I said. "'I can tell you have something juicy on your mind, Emi.'" I imitated, as Lily used her book to lightly spank me. "I have nothing to tell you."

"Guys, doesn't she have something to tell me?" Lily whined to James and Sirius.

"Seems like it." James said thoughtfully.

"Is it about our date?" Sirius asked, winking, and referring to his birthday.

"That wasn't a date, Sirius, and you know it. It was a friendly…birthday event. And you owe me some hot-chocolate, too from that one Saturday." I said, nodding confidently. He laughed, but James and Lily looked at us like we were nuts.

"Oh that? That's a secret, Lily." Sirius said slyly, smirking. Lily narrowed her green eyes at him.

"Anyway…" I said, trying to change the subject.

"You two are no fun. Perfect for each other." Lily whined again, just trying to get on my nerves. I laughed as Sirius pretended to look offended.

"I'll have you know, I'm twice as fun than you. But, I cannot deny that Em and I are perfect for each other. That's true." Sirius stated calmly, pointing a finger up and giving a thoughtful grin.

"I'm four times as fun as each of you combined, obviously. Just look at me. I even _look_ fun." I said like it was nothing.

"You look smart and preppy. That spells square to me." Lily said flatly, as James nodded. Remus forced a small laugh.

"It's good for you though; it looks so becoming on you, darling." Sirius said, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"Aw- that's sweet, love." I said in return, trying to do the same. Then I realized that I was too short to put my arm around his shoulders, so I looked at Sirius while he looked down at me and smiled.

"You're not tall enough." He teased, patting my shoulder. I put my arm back down to my side and laughed. He winked and continued, "But it's okay, I can put my arm around you still- easy. Are you tall enough to kiss me, though?"

"Maybe." I winked back. He had a big, sheepish grin on from ear to ear. Another one you couldn't control or stop. I shook my head at his expression after a moment. Lily shook her head and began talking with Alice, who had just approached her and randomly started gossiping about Darcy Chang. She must be with a new boy, then?

"Should we find out?"

"Nope, sorry- I have to go."

"Oh, come on! Where are you headed off to, now?"

"I have the pitch booked today for practice." I replied, walking ahead of James and Sirius. James gave joking growl and I thought I heard Sirius face-palm himself. I smirked.

See, ever since last Saturday when Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor –very, very badly, if I might add- James and I have had this whole rivalry thing going on. Everyone in Hogwarts thinks that we're an odd terms because of the deal, and I think James might be going with that a little bit, too. He's always urging me on about extra practice and crazy hard-work, like what he does with his own team. I'm surprised his team hasn't collapsed on-field yet, considering the work they have to do at practice. We're talking push-ups and sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, jumping-jacks…every exercise possible! And to think, we're not even on the ground to play Quidditch. I won't lie; Gryffindor is a good team because of James.

I hurried to Ravenclaw tower to get ready for practice, and when I got there I ran up to my room as fast as I could and changed into a pair of navy yoga pants, a white tank-top, and a thin navy jacket. I nodded to Jenna, who smiled back in reply to my hello, as I was rushing out of the Common Room, then jogged through the Great Hall to the pitch, to see my team huddled in a large circle. Some were talking to the entire group and some looked at each other and nodded. I squinted to see if there was something in the middle of the circle or what, but there was nothing so I just walked over.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked, standing behind the circle. A few jumped and everyone whipped around to see me. They all gave me an awkward, nervous smile.

"Oh…hi there, Emi…" one girl, Hannah, said. Brandon waved nervously at me and I nodded back unsurely.

"What's…Err, is there something going on?"

"No, no- nothing really. We were just…We were…um…" Daniel started, scratching the back of his head. I looked at him expectantly, until Brandon coughed and everyone directed their attention to him.

"We were just talking about…about last week's game!" Brandon finished for him. I nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah- we did pretty good, huh?" I said, fist-bumping the youngest girl on the team. Everyone 'wooed' and clapped, then got out of their little circle. I gave two thumbs up to everybody.

"Alright, guys and gals, let's start practice. Stretches first? Find a partner if you want!" I announced loudly, smiling. Everyone, of course, immediately grabbed a partner. I was happy to see that Daniel and Brandon were getting along, considering that they'd been hanging out a lot more than usual. "Daniel, Brandon- you wanna lead us all?"

Daniel and Brandon jogged up in front of everyone and just started doing random stretches, laughing about each one afterwards with the team. I snuck off to get my broom in the Ravenclaw broom shed.

"Alohomora." I said, pointing to the lock on the shed with my wand, as it clinked open. I pulled the lock off and walked inside to get my broom. After, I shut the door behind me and put the lock back on again, then hurried over to the pitch.

"Okay, we're just going to do some basic things we need to improve or work on today. Some of you have NEWTS, some of you have OWLS, so I get the stress. I want Brandon over here with me, Chasers with Chasers, Beaters with Beaters, please. I'll come to your groups in just a moment." I said. To add some awesome affect, I used my wand to make a bright blue firework burst above us all. Everyone cheered and got in their groups. I turned to Brandon, and said, "Brandon, I just want you to chase the Snitch around for a bit. After, you can help me with some stuff, if you like…" I paused. "You know, you did great last week. Thanks for taking a half for me, dude."

"R-really? Thanks…and n-no problem. I'd love to help you with…with some stuff!" Brandon breathed with a happy shrug, a big smile on his face. I nodded and pulled a Snitch out of my pocket as he mounted his broom.

"Here you go." I said, throwing it up. Brandon took off and I headed to the Beaters group.

"Hey guys, I want you to pass to each other. You all are doing great, I just feel like we need to work on playing as a team; together. That's what'll get us the Quidditch Cup, you know." I winked, as everyone got their brooms mounted. One guy already had the Bludger ready. "Okay, start us off, then." I said to the guy, as he hit the Bludger up. They all got on their brooms and immediately started passing to each other, doing the best they could. "Don't forget communication!" I yelled. After that, I headed to the Chaser's group.

"Alrighty, you guys are going to work on hitting goals with each other. Pair up and run- well, fly- lines across the field, passing with your partner until you get a goal. I need one person to try and stop them along the way. Hannah?"

"Okay, I'll try it." Hannah smiled proudly, as one of her friends high-fived her. They each mounted their brooms and Hannah walked over to get the Quaffle. Once she got it, she threw it up as high as she could and a boy swooped down and caught it. Whoever the boy was, he made her blush. Brandon was flying in a circle around the entire pitch, the Chasers were playing fairly and perfectly with their partners, and the beaters…The Beaters were on the ground again, and they were all lodged in a major argument. I rushed over.

"Guys, what's up?" I asked, looking at them all. Daniel stood to the side, an irritated look on his face. Marcus was over here fuming- I could almost see the smoke coming out his ears.

"Chang over here's being a bloke, as usual. He's directing us all on how to play 'correctly'." Marcus said, trying to be calm. Daniel gave a loud 'Ugh'.

"Hey, it's not my fault if you suck, man-" Daniel said, but I cut him off with a death glare.

"Look, Daniel- I can't have you doing this kind of stuff. Actually, I need you _all_ to work together. You all are playing perfectly fine, and it was going smoothly and great! Let's keep that up, okay? I mean, we have a cup to win!" I said, patting Marcus and another boy's shoulder. Marcus and Daniel sighed, but everyone else- to my surprise- gave a compromising look. Well, I guess I'm a fair motivational speaker, then! They all got back to playing and did much better, thank Godric. Practice was over much quicker than I'd wanted (since I was dreading dinner, actually). Brandon caught the Snitch at least six times and helped me fill out some paper-work stuff I had to do, to judge my team and their well-being. That was actually a piece of German Chocolate Cake, since the team was doing really good this year. Maybe I'm a good Captain, after-all?

I headed back inside to Ravenclaw Tower and took a quick shower (which totally rhymes), thinking about what I'd say to Sirius exactly. Would he get mad if I told him everything? Or would he be sad; like sad that I sort of ruined our friendship by speaking to Regulus? I sighed. There's no telling with Sirius, honestly.

I put on a pair of skinny jeans, my blue flats, and a blue quarter-length shirt, then headed down to Dinner in the Great Hall. There was an over-whelming sense of dread in my chest. I feel like…If I tell Sirius about what happened, I'll just let him down completely. On his birthday, he told me how he felt about his family problems. That moment that we had- the entire thing, it was really special to me. Will I ruin all of that stuff…?

I walked into the Great Hall to see Lily at the Ravenclaw table, talking to Xeno and Daniel. I headed over, taking the long way around so I wouldn't pass Sirius yet.

"Hey Lily…" I sighed, sitting down beside her. "Hey X, Hey Daniel." Xeno and Daniel nodded and started shoving food in their mouths when Lily finished speaking. Lily gave me a curious look.

"What's wrong, Emi?" she asked, patting my shoulder. I rubbed my forehead, like I had a headache.

"Today, while I was in Charms, Regulus had to sit by me. He started talking to me, and I couldn't just ignore him like that. That'd just be rude… But anyway, he told me this thing about Sirius talking about me all the time at their house, and how Sirius really likes me…" I started, putting my head in my hands. That feeling was getting worse and worse. Lily snorted and shook her head, her eyes closed. Meanwhile, Xeno and Daniel started a conversation about Biting-gnomes. Daniel kept snorting, sort of like Lilt did when she heard something totally dumb and obnoxious.

"I don't see what's so bad about that, Emi! Wink, wink…" Lily said, nudging me with her elbow and winking twice. I shook my head and looked at her.

"Lily, Regulus told me he liked me." I said seriously, looking into Lily's green eyes. She froze but then softened, a slightly-confused look on her face. "I have to tell Sirius, or he'll just find out and get really mad about it…" I sighed. "Let's go, then. I just want to get this over with."

Lily knew a few things about Sirius' relationship with his family, based on what I've told her. I'm not stupid enough to tell her everything, of course- just how he has a disliking when it comes to most of his family.

We walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down with the Marauders, who were fully launched in a deep conversation about Quidditch. Remus wasn't at the table, apparently, so he must've been studying, still. He likes his books. Lily had a sorrowful look on her face, like she was also expecting the worst case scenario. That would be when Sirius gets _super_ angry with me, and practically explodes. Lily and I sat there for a few moments until the Marauders finished their argument about Victor Lance and Charles Dames, two professional Quidditch players.

"Hey, pretty ladies." Sirius greeted with a grin already on his face. Lily laughed.

"Hey Lily, Hey Emi!" James exclaimed. Lily's cheeks were soon tinted red and James suddenly got a sheepish smile on his face. Before James and Lily here got into another deep conversation about something, Lily gave me a half-smile and I nodded. My heart just stopped.

"So…how's your day been, love? Practice go well?" Sirius asked, taking a gulp of pumpkin juice and winking mid-sip. I nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it did. Today's been…crazy." I replied, a half-smile still on my face. Sirius sat his glass down and gave me some sort of strange look, furrowing his eyebrows.

"How so?" he asked curiously, eyeing me. I sighed. My friends can read me like a book.

"I had to sit beside Regulus in charms today…" I started. Sirius nodded.

"Ah, so your day was actually _awful_." Sirius said, very slight irritation in his voice.

"But he started talking to me…he told me all this stuff-"

"So you talked to him, too? Right. I guess s'pose you forgot about all those things I've told you? What'd he say?"

"He just said that you really liked me... and that he kind of maybe did, too..."

Sirius' face went blank for a minute, and then he closed his eyes. When he opened them, it was like I could see explosions or something. He huffed angrily.

"You know, I want to know why you talked to him! Why would you do that to me? You- you know how it is with us!" He hissed angrily, trying to stay some-what calm. He clenched his fist and shook his head.

"Sirius, I w-" I was cut off by him again, shrinking on the bench.

"No! I don't care- you _knew _not to talk to him! You knew! But you went ahead and talked to him, still! I-I can't believe that you even wanted to talk to him... After everything I told you, you just...UGH!" He said, getting louder and louder. I felt the tears start to sting my eyes. For a second, I think Sirius was kind of sorry for something, but then he grimaced. By now, Sirius was shaking with anger. "Are you crying?" he growled.

James looked over and jumped, and lily looked surprised.

"Sirius, dude, calm down. It's all good here." James said, motioning for Sirius to calm down. Sirius narrowed his eyes at James and shook his head.

"I won't calm down! You don't even know the half of it, James! Not even bloody half…" he said to James. I sniffled and he turned back to me. "Hell, I thought I had a trustworthy friend! I-I liked you, even! But forget it, now…"

So we aren't friends anymore?

I put my head in my hands and just started crying. Finally I got up and ran to the Ravenclaw Common Room, still bawling, and went to bed.

Worst Case Scenario, accomplished.


	14. Mum?

Chapter Fourteen-

I looked outside my frost-covered window while sitting on my window seat with a book and hot chocolate, plus a blanket, gazing out at my snow-covered yard. I love snow, so much. It's beautiful. I like the cold too…just because you can cuddle up in a warm blanket once you get inside. Not to mention being able to drink Hot-Chocolate as much as you want. There's no way I could forget about chocolate! I'm almost ashamed of the thought…

Today was another long day of Christmas break. Christmas is in three days, and Christmas Eve is in two. I'd gotten lots of letters from Lily in the past few days, of course, and she'd gotten a hundred from me as well. Sirius…well, let's count zero letters from him. He stayed at Hogwarts this year, and James tagged along, and so did Peter. Sirius told me we weren't friends…but if he could only understand why I talked to Regulus, and why I told him everything…I replied to Regulus because I didn't want to seem rude. The last thing I need is an enemy, especially if they're in a well-known pure-blood family. Ignoring him wouldn't have done me any good, obviously. I told Sirius because I didn't want anything to come between our friendship, better yet, our relationship. But maybe I shouldn't have talked to Regulus- then none of this would have happened, and I'd still be that 'trustworthy' and 'sweet' friend of Sirius'. The one he had feelings for, if I might add.

I jumped to the faint knock on my door and Remus walked in with a faded yellow envelope.

"Hey, Emileigha. Happy birthday…" Remus said, smiling awkwardly. He wasn't exactly the guy who could always be happy and peppy. Plus, he's feeling ill- last night was the full moon. He handed me the letter. "It's from Lily, again."

"Thanks, Remus…How did last night go?" I asked curiously, as he gave me the letter. He stifled a laugh and shook his head, eyes closed.

"Always am. Meet me and Dad downstairs at one, alright?" he said, patting my shoulder. I nodded and he turned on his heel and left the room. I glanced outside one last time before ripping open the envelope and pulling out the letter. The next thing I know, there's a mini-firework show in my room. Crimson and blue burst all around. I smiled and read the letter:

_Dear Emi,_

_Happy birthday! Best friends forever, Emi. (:_

_Here's your song: Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you…Happy birthday dear Emi- Happy freaking birthday to you! Love you. _

_And look, forget about Sirius today. It's your birthday! You should be having a great day, and spending lots of time doing whatever you please! Be Queen of your House, if you want. (:_

_Lots of love,_

_Lily_

I smirked and walked over to my mahogany library table, pulled open the top drawer, and got some ink and parchment out. I got an envelope from the bottom drawer and began to write:

_Lily-bug,_

_Thanks! (: Best friends forever, Lily. Of course! (: Love you too. _

_Wow, I love that song! Thanks! Haha…_

_Anyways- thanks for making my birthday special already! You're such a good friend, and I'm so glad to have you. Your right, I will be Queen of my house! :)_

_Yours with love,_

_Queen Emileigha I_

_p.s- I miss HoneyDukes…_

I folded my letter and put it in the envelope, then walked over to my Barn Owl, Cameo, and gave her the letter, which she took in her beak. I opened the cage door and opened the window just wide enough for her to fly out, which she did as soon as the window opened. I slammed it shut, shivering with the cold breeze that flooded my room. Perfect- a great excuse for me to get a fluffy blanket and wear it as a cape today.

As much as I'd like to just forget about Sirius, I can't. I feel like I've done so many things wrong. I've finally noticed that every fight we have…Well, I start it. Really, I do. All of them- they're all my fault! I'm surprised that Sirius was my friend for so long like he was…once was, I mean. I can't believe myself, honestly. I just can't help but beat myself down.

I sighed and plopped down on my window seat again. Oh, what I'd do for some Hot-Chocolate right now. I checked the roman clock above my door. Twelve fourteen. What am I supposed to do for an hour? I'm so tired of reading, even though I'd never imagine saying the words. I looked tiredly at the book I had been reading since seven a.m. I couldn't be more bored with it, really. I stood up and just stood in the middle of my room for a second, looking for something to do. Before I could think of anything else, my mind escaped back to Sirius. It was literally about to drive me crazy…

I hurriedly grabbed a fuzzy burgundy blanket and walked to my door and whipped it open. Dad and Remus jumped and turned around, each at the bottom of the stairs, doing **something**.

"Daddy, can I come down? I'm about to die in here!" I yelled to him jokingly, trying to light my atmosphere. Dad smiled and nodded, and Remus had a blank expression on his face.

"Sure, come on down." He said. I sighed in relief and shut the door behind me, then bounced down the stairs.

"Did you say you were about to die up there?" Remus asked slowly, furrowing his brow. Dad did the same, which made me realize how much alike they were. I half-smiled.

"It's a girl thing." They looked away simultaneously at this. I laughed. "So…Lily told me that I need to be the Queen of the house…" I said, looking around the room then smirking to myself. Remus raised his eyebrows and Dad laughed.

"Really now? Just because it's your birthday?" Dad asked, smiling, with his eyes closed. I nodded confidently and Remus laughed.

"Yup! That's why…I have this cape, even." I explained, tying the blanket around my shoulders. Dad nodded and Remus went along with it.

"Alright, your Majesty." Dad said cheerfully. "Your brother and I were going to wait until one, but now that you've come out of your cave...We wanted to take you ice-skating. Sound fun?"

"Yeah, totally!" I said happily. Ice-skating was like a tradition around winter before my mum passed…After that, we only went like once a year all different times. Anyways, maybe Ice-skating will get my mind off of everything from Hogwarts?

"Alrighty- you guys go get changed. Meet me downstairs in twenty minutes." Dad said, turning on his heel and walking towards the kitchen after ruffling Remus hair. Remus followed me upstairs in happy silence. Of course, I was about six feet ahead of him since I was running. Lucky me, I missed the last step up and tripped. Remus started laughing and helped me up. He checked to make sure I was okay, and we both parted to go to our rooms. I rubbed my knees and hurried to my closet. I pulled out a pair of dark wash jeans, a long-sleeved beige shirt, and a green scarf with matching mittens.

I dug around in the back of my closet. I pulled one pair of shoes out of a pile of random things, and another three pairs fell. It was dreadful. I eventually managed to move the pile of oxfords and pumps and other things that usually made my room messy, and I finally found the box holding my ice-skates. The box was a little dusty- it's been so long since we've gone skating! I opened the box and looked at my skates. They were burgundy with brown laces, like my Mum's were. I smiled to myself. Mum bought me my first pair of skates. They were pink, of course, since I was going through that overly-girly stage in my so-far-short life. She bought me a white pair, later, because I had told her they were 'Cinderella Skates'. She started to get sick before Christmas, and she had the skates I held now picked as a present. She died before Christmas, though, thus, I never got them. Two years ago, Dad bought them for me.

There was something about Mum that made you want to do something really good. Something you'd be proud of later. That's one reason I smile whenever I think of her.

I closed the box and blew it off, dusting it with my hand, and went down stairs again. I listened to my boots thud down the stairs and prayed that I wouldn't miss the last step and add to my habit, despite me watching the steps I took. When I got to the kitchen, Remus was already down there, sitting on a bar-stool at the island. Dad could be heard humming something from his room, which was down the hall, so he was being really loud. Daily routines- you gotta love 'em!

Deciding to make a scene, I pointed at Remus after clapping and said, "Ice skating."

"Ice skating." Remus nodded, raising his eyebrows, leaning onto the island and grabbing an apple. A loud crunch echoed through the kitchen as he bit into it.

"Are you totally excited? It's been, like, three years since we've been." I said, sitting down in front of him. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it's been a while…your Majesty." Remus smiled, taking another bite of his apple. I curtseyed, which made him laugh. "You know, there're a few tiaras downstairs from your old pageants. You could wear one today."

"And be a Disney princess?" I said, clasping my hands together with a dreamy look and smile.

"Right…" Remus said slowly, nodding again. I laughed.

"And then we could see the funny looks I get, right?" I laughed. "The little kids would say, 'Mummy look, it's...'- wait, which one could I be?" I asked curiously. None of them have copper hair…

"Um…Well, you could be the Sleeping Beauty one…Aurora? Her hair is the closest to copper." Remus shrugged, a sincere look on his face.

"You know her name?" I asked curiously, drawing my name on the island table with my finger.

"I know all of their names, because my little sister used to watch the movies all the time. Don't even get me started on those merry melody things…Ugh, all these shows you've watched- they've gotten etched into my mind somehow." Remus whined, shaking his head and tapping his forehead. I was about to say something when Dad waltzed into the room.

"Alright, my children, lets pile into the car and head over to the lake...rink…thing." He nodded, walking over and opening the back door for Remus and I. Sure, we had a lake with our property, but it wasn't frozen, like the rink we were going to. Plus, that's just where we've always gone. Remus threw what was left of the apple he had somewhere off in the snow, making a huge indent. I jogged to the car, trying not to trip in the thick snow, and unlocked the doors, after taking the keys away from Dad, then started the car. Every time we were going somewhere, Remus and Dad were always lagging off behind me by like seven feet. Surely I'm not that excited.

"M'Lady dear, would you like to drive today?" Dad asked, opening the back door of the car for me. I'm not old enough to sit in the front, I guess... but I can apparently drive, though I don't have my license.

"Nah. I don't want to kill you guys on my birthday. But thank you, my good man. I'd much appreciate it if you take me to get my driver's license next summer." I said, hopping into the SUV. Remus got in the front and Dad, finally, got into the Driver's seat. Pretty soon, we were off. Remus was the first to speak up.

"You know, I get my license this Summer, if I want it. And so will Lily."

"What about James and Peter?" I asked, excluding Sirius. Luckily, Remus was already mad at him for that little nap incident, so he wouldn't point him out either. Fault? Remus had no idea about the deal with me and Sirius most recently.

"They'll get theirs, unfortunately, too. Peter would be okay on the road, I guess…But James…James might kill someone. No, he _would_ kill someone. Maybe more than one person. A hundred." Remus said worriedly, shaking his head at his words. I shook my head too. Someday, when James and Lily are married (Well, surely they'll get married- they're perfect for each other), Lily will have to drive James around all the time. It'll be hilarious- I just know it. James and Lily in a cute little car arguing over where they should go... Wait, why am I imagining this, again?

"Right." I laughed, putting on mascara while looking into the passenger-side mirror. Remus laughed at my unusual expression. He just doesn't understand that girls have to be perfect, most of the time... for everything...everyone. I pushed Sirius out of my head, again.

Pretty soon, after a drive around a few blocks or so, we made it to I.C.'s- the Ice Skating Rink. Funny with the name of the place, right? I.C., like icy? The owner's name is Ian Calder. He's a cool guy, in his late twenties or maybe even early thirties by now. I was the first to hop out of the SUV, and I ran over to a bench and quickly laced up my skates.

"Emileigha, I have to make a business call, alright? It's really important…about the ministry." He said, scratching the back of his neck. I nodded.

"It's cool, Dad." I said slowly, as he walked over to a payphone. Somehow, things often seemed to play out like this. Dad leaving the family activity for work, the family wishing he would spend some time with them. It just got worse once Mum got sick. But that's another story.

I sighed and stood up, almost falling in my skates, and quickly got on the Ice. In my mind, once I started skating, I was thinking 'We meet again, old friend'…except I imagined those words in a Spanish accent. What is it with me and this imagination?

I started doing random skating moves, like figure eights and such. I looked around for Remus, but there were so many people here now that it was hard to pick out a certain person. I skated past a group of boys, who looked about sixteen or seventeen. One of them wolf-whistled at me, and I jumped. I saw them check em out, but I didn't expect them to start hitting on me or anything like that. One skated over- the one who whistled.

"Hey, pretty thing." He greeted, pulling his leather jacket to a close. He had an American accent and he had black hair with brown eyes, and he also looked like a guy you would see from The Outsiders. I rolled my eyes, looking away, and attempted to ignore him. "Oh, the quiet type, I see. What's your name, sweet lips?" I huffed and stopped, then turned to him.

"Why do you need to know?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip. He raises his eyebrows and scanned me.

"Eh, here- lemme introduce myself. The names Adam Kippard. My buddies call me Kip. I'm from Jersey. You heard of it?" He asked, nodding. I stared at him and kept quiet. "Well...aren't you gonna tell me your name?"

"Yes, I've heard of New Jersey. My name's Emileigha." I sighed, pulling my mittens up. He squinted and smirked. He tried to put his arm around my shoulder but I slapped it down. He raised his eyebrows again and laughed with his friends.

"Emileigha what…?" he asked, motioning for me to go on. I shook my head and mentally face palmed myself.

"Emileigha none of your business." I said, skating off, finally. I should've done that before. As I skated away, he whistled again and went back to his friends. I rolled my eyes just thinking about him, again.

I skated away and suddenly, randomly, I heard a loud thump. I looked around, confused, and my eyes widened when I finally saw a little girl, just laying there motionless on the ice. It really freaked me out at first, because I instinctively thought she was dead.

I rushed over to her and bent down, but I didn't know what to say, so I just shook her. First I was gentle, then, when she wasn't moving still, I got rougher. I immediately checked her pulse, which was perfectly fine, and then I just shook her again. By now, I had her head in my lap. Her golden curls strayed over her face, which I quickly brushed back.

"Wake up..." I said, gently shaking her. People were starting to stop and stare. Somewhere in the background a woman yelled, 'Lindy' and I knew that this girl was the daughter of whoever had screamed.

"Lindy, wake up!" I said a little louder, shaking her a little harder. Her eyes fluttered open for a split second, but they rolled back and closed again. "Lindy! Lindy! Come on, wake up!" I shook her one last time, and her eyes finally flickered open again. I wasn't sure what to do exactly, so I just held her close to me. She immediately started crying.

"Where's my Mummy?" she sobbed. I rocked her back and forth for a moment, understanding that the incident had really scared her.

"You're alright, love- everything's going to be fine." I said softly, brushing her curls out of her face again. She sobbed and buried her face in my shoulder. "Did you hit your head?" I asked, rubbing her back. She shook her head and sniffled. A woman, who I assumed to be her mother, rushed over as quickly as she could.

"Oh, Lindy, you're okay!" the woman cried as I leaned over so she could take Lindy. She hugged Lindy to her chest, her eyes filling with tears. She looked at me with a thankful expression. "God bless you! If you hadn't come to her...O, who knows if she would've woken up?!"

"I-is she going to be alright?" I stuttered, my heart still fluttering with worry.

"I think so...I...Oh, thank-you! I don't know what I would do if I'd lost her. I lost her father last year and it's been so rough... She's been sick, but I really thought she was better now, and we were trying to keep the family tradition of going skating! I just...I just don't know how she got away from me! You have no idea how grateful I am!" The woman said, hugging Lindy, who was by now just sniffling, tighter. I smiled and grabbed the woman's hand.

"And you have no idea how grateful I am that she's alright. It was nothing to help her." I said. Somehow, I felt like she kind of...understood my situation.

"Oh thank-you…" She whispered, then wiped a tear from her eye and broke down again, while hugging me some more.

After lots of 'Thank-You's, the woman- Elizabeth Towery- left to take Lindy to the doctor. Remus had made sure that I was alright and everything, being his over protective self. Of course, I felt fine and everything...I wasn't the one who was in danger. I could only wonder what would have happened if I hadn't seen Lindy? People kept coming up to me and complimenting me and asking what happened, so I had to tell them the story. Luckily, I wasn't one of those people who made the story more and more dramatic as it progressed.

After a while, me, Remus, and Dad went out for lunch. We came back later, after a stop at a nice coffee place.

As I was about to complete a figure eight, someone screamed 'watch out!' at the top of their lungs and something hit me at full speed. I fell back, thinking I was just going to fall on my butt, but ended up on my back hitting my head as hard as possible on the ice. It suddenly got hard to see and some people were kneeled down beside me. All I could make out was someone calling an ambulance and Dad screaming, 'Emileigha!' through the ringing in my ears. My head started to pound and everything started to get hazy, and everything started to spin really slowly, but it looked so fast. I got nauseas and finally everything started go black, but I said one thing:

"…Mum?"

A/N- Rate, review, favourite and love! Thanks for reading, loves!


	15. Family!

A/N- Sorry, it's been a bit since I've updated Double Knotted! Terribly sorry if you've been so kind as to hold your greatly appreciated and long patience! Love, love, love!

-_**siriuslybritish**_

Chapter Fifteen-

I slowly opened my eyes, only to wake up in a hospital room. There were a few machines beside me, beeping, and there were about five vases full of flowers, all with cards saying 'Get Well Soon' and whatnot. I tried to sit up, but then there was pang in my head and I got the headache of a life time. It hurt so badly, I could have easily cried, but I didn't. I opened my eyes completely, instead a squinting, and found that my neck was extremely sore as I tried to turn my head. I managed to look at my Dad and Remus, who were sitting beside each other, listening to a doctor in a white coat.

"Ah, Miss Lupin, you're awake. You took quite a blow out there." The doctor, said, turning around. Remus and Dad lit up and snapped their heads over to see me in unison. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, noticing the IV in my arm. I looked at the Doctor carefully. I couldn't understand what had happened exactly, and I wasn't so sure as to where I was. Let's face it- I was dead confused.

"What happened?" I asked, blinking, while lying in the hospital bed, looking at the Doctor. I turned my head painfully to look up at the ceiling. There was less pressure if I kept it strait, apparently.

"Well, as your brother here said, you were ice-skating when someone ran into you. They must've been going fast, because it really knocked you down. You hit your head on the ice, and after a few minutes, passed out." The doctor explained, walking over to my bedside. He got a bottle from the medical tray beside my bed and extracted some through a needle, then motions for me to give him the arm with the IV in it. He carefully pushed the medicine into a blue plastic tube that was connected to me IV and I felt a weird rush of coldness, then burning, and back to coldness. The next thing I know, my headache's pretty much gone, except for a small thud on top of my head…but I felt sort of loopy. I yawned, but shut my mouth once my neck started to feel like it was going to break.

"Am I okay?" I asked curiously, feeling as if I was half asleep half awake. You know, the moments where you do strange things but feel like you know what you're actually doing? The doctor laughed, but Dad and Remus kept an anxious face on.

"You'll be fine. The blow left you with quite a severe concussion, though. I'm afraid you could have a few neck and upper-back problems, too…"

"Doctor Saunders, how long will the…effects of the concussion last?" Dad asked worriedly, glancing over at me then back at the doctor- Doctor Saunders, apparently. Doctor Saunders took a good minute to think about dad's question.

"It's likely that a concussion like this- I've graded it as a three- could last three to four weeks. As for the neck and back trauma- well, I predict quite a while. Of course, it shouldn't cause her any _awful_ pain. It might feel quite sore for a while, though. And whatever you do, sir, do not let her pop her neck." Doctor Saunders said. For some reason, I wasn't liking him very much, and we just met.

"Alright..." Dad said, nodding. Remus nodded with him, noting that I was staring at them now, with a glance my way. He gave me a sincere smile, not showing any teeth and looking down. I just stared after him, not wanting to move my face.

"I know this would be the worst time possible, but I'm afraid I'll have to let you out the day after tomorrow rather than today or tomorrow. The 24th. We'll have to schedule some appointments and things, I believe." Doctor Saunders said apologetically, cupping his hands. Afterwards, he said something about stitches, but I didn't understand him. Dad sighed and leaned back.

"But that's Christmas Eve…" Remus spoke up. Everyone went silent.

"Where's Mum?" I asked, expecting someone to give me an answer. Neither Remus nor Dad could look at me- therefore anyone. My vision was going in and out again. "Is…is she alright?"

"She's alright, Emi. It's okay." Remus said softly, his head down. Dad patted his back and scooted closer to him so Remus could lean on him.

"Tell her I said I love her, will you, Remus?" I asked quietly, starting to doze off.

"She knows." Remus said in the same down, putting his head in his hands. Dad was watching me. "I love you too, Dad…and…you, Remus…" I finished, before dozing off into a restless sleep.

I woke up again to a sharp poke on my shoulder, piercing my skin. I immediately opened my eyes to see a nurse giving me a shot with a clear liquid medicine in it. She smiled down at me, then got a cotton ball to wipe off any blood from my shoulder. She smoothed out a band-aid on the wound afterwards. I cringed- I'm not

"Good morning, dear! How d'you feel?" she asked brightly, fluffing the pillows of the bed beside me after throwing the needle away. As soon as she said 'feel', my head started to pound. This time it was much worse than before. Didn't the Doctor say something about less pain, yesterday…? I mentally groaned. My neck and my back were sore, but my neck…that was the kind of sore that could kill a girl. I closed my eyes, hoping I could sleep again and make the pain go away. "I'm sorry, dear- that won't help you sleep. It'll likely keep you awake." She said, half-smiling. I sighed and sat up with a tad bit of pain. Remus and Dad weren't in here anymore.

"Where's my brother, and my dad?" I asked quietly, looking at the nurse. She straightened some linen blankets and turned to me.

"They're in Doctor Saunders' office, scheduling some things, dearest." She smiled. "Are you thirsty? Hungry?"

"I'm sort of thirsty…" I claimed, running a hand through the front of my hair. I looked down to find that I wasn't in my outfit from skating, I was in a hospital gown with nothing on under it but…my blue bra and panties! My face turned pink. If I had been undressed or something, please let it be a woman who took the job…Awkward.

"What would you like? Water, tea, orange juice, apple juice…?" the nurse trailed off. I thought for a moment. Apple juice sounded as good as Hot Chocolate right about now.

"Apple juice." I smiled, feeling like a little kid again. Actually, now that I think of it, colouring didn't sound too bad either. Bring in the Crayola's!

With that, the nurse left to get me some apple juice from the Hospital Kitchen. I looked out the somewhat-bright window. Today looked cold and gloomy. Today was Christmas Eve- and I get to spend half of it in the hospital. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door.

"Mail call…" a boy said with a full-on Irish accent, bringing in a thick envelope. The boy had blonde hair and blue eyes. I immediately recognized him. "Emileigha Lupin?" he asked, surprised.

"Hey…there, Ronan…" I said, giving a small wave before I felt a pang of soreness in my shoulder.

-Ronan Finnigan had honey blonde hair with bangs that swooshed to the side and deep blue eyes. He was in the same year as me, a somewhat normal Hufflepuff. We'd been friends since fourth year, after I helped him get up after a nasty fall in a Quidditch game. He was a Hufflepuff chaser and quite masculine, not bad looking. He broke up with his girlfriend, Layken, last year, and thankfully wasn't a ladies man. Ronan was about 5'7''- so a giant, if I do say so myself. Me and my shortness…

"What're you doing in here?" he asked, walking over to me and laying the envelope on my lap. I stifled a laugh.

"Ice-skating accident…someone ran into me, and now...I have a concussion." I said slowly, giving the best partial shrug I could. He raised his eyebrows all knowingly, and mouthed 'Ah'.

"Wow- tough luck, that is!" he grimaced.

"Oh yeah…So…What're you doing here, anyways?" I asked curiously. Ronan gave a sheepish smile and a shrug to match.

"Well, I live around here now, and I saw that this place needed some volunteers and extra help, so I decided to get in the Christmas Spirit and help out. Everyone's mighty nice, they are. I'm just volunteering as the mail…person." He explained, nodding happily. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, that's nice of you. They're really busy around Christmas…You live near here?" I said, smiling. He nodded again and motioned towards the corner of the room, meaning that he lived over in that direction.

"Yeah, I live on Mulberry Street, there. In that big brick house. So you live around here, too?" he asked, putting his hand back down to his side. I nodded.

"I live down Rookwood Drive. That's pretty close- just a few blocks away." I smiled, nodding. He lit up.

"Cool- maybe we should hang out sometime? Haha! Well, I better get going. Enjoy your mail! Bye, Emileigha." He said, smiling, waving good bye and walking out the door. I sighed and looked down in my lap to the letter. It was from Lily, and it was quite thick.

I opened it up and read to myself:

_Emileigha,_

_OH MY GOSH! A CONCUSSION? Are you alright? What did the Doctor say exactly? Who ran into you? Tell me! I hope you're okay, and you're not in too much pain! Man, it sucks that your cooped up in a dumb old Hospital for half of Christmas Eve. Your Dad and Remus called and told us everything- but, of course, I had to make sure you were alright…with the addition of a few extra questions. As long as you're okay, though… Dad, Mum, Petunia, and I would come visit you, but we're stuck at Aunt Porsche's in an awful snow storm. The roads are just too slick! James said he would visit too, but you know, he stayed back at Hogwarts. But anyways, I think Aunt Porsche's nephews are going to kill me…the wild things. Well, Owl me as soon as you can, please. Get well soon, too._

_Lily-bug_

_p.s- I miss HoneyDukes, too…_

I forced a laugh out of my mouth. Lily's a worry freak. But then again, I can be one too…

As I waited for the nurse, I let my mind wander back to Sirius. I flinched in the hospital bed and shook my head. I didn't even want to remember his name, suddenly. I felt kind of angry with him, and I felt that I was no longer the one to blame for the predicament we're in. Then I sighed and mentally told myself to shut up. It's Christmas Eve and I'm literally doing this to myself- it's one out of two days to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I should be happy, even though I really am cooped up in this Hospital room. Whatever- at least I'm alright, and I'll be home today.

The nurse waltzed back in with a big smile, carrying a tall glass of Apple-Juice. She handed it to me and pulled a straw out of her pocket.

"Alright, dear, we'll have to have to get some CAT Scans done today- check out that neck of yours, that pretty head. There shouldn't be any trauma, don't worry." The nurse said, pushing the straw down into my drink for me. I nodded as a thank-you, and took a big drink. Oh yes. She cupped her hands.

"And tomorrow you'll get out of here. I'm sure you'll be happy." I furrowed my eyebrows. Tomorrow?

"What? I thought I got out tomorrow." I asked, confused. The Nurse shook her head and folded a thick linen blanket down on my bed.

"No, it's the 23rd- you'll get out tomorrow as safe as a lock." The nurse said. As safe as a lock? I've never heard that one before. "Now then, once you finish your drink, I'll need you to get into this wheel chair and we'll head on over to the Scan room. I know you probably would like to walk, but its hospital rules that you must be in a wheel chair if you're a patient. Sorry Hun."

My heart sank- I want to go home today, please! What am I going to do in this boring old hospital anyways? Nothing at all, evidently. I mean, it's a hospital. It's not like I could break out in a dance party. And what do you know, I'm not supposed to walk or get out of bed. Great.

I finished my juice and the nurse helped me into the dumb wheel chair, even though I didn't need much help.

She pushed me out into the hallway and we headed off to what was apparently the 'Scan room', where I would get my wondrous CAT scan. We went into an elevator and the nurse pressed the number 7 button. No we wait. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and a really cute nurse, a guy, stepped in with a doctor. The nurse and the doctor started talking and the male nurse looked down at me and nodded.

"CAT Scan?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded.

"Yeah." I replied, giving a 'yeah-could-of-been-better' look. He nodded.

"Huh, well, you don't seem too excited about it. But don't worry, it's nothing crazy." He said, then laughed. I just looked at him. Thanks for that, Captain Obvious. I thought I was going to have a complete operation. Floor six was their stop, then it was floor seven- our stop. The nurse rolled me into the 'Scan Room', and after a long time- at least two hours of laying on a table with a light that kept passing over me and scanning me- we got everything done. I felt like if you touched my back it would just snap and I would collapse. Again, I was helped into the wheel chair and rolled away into the elevator then back down to my room. This time Dad and Remus were there, though. Thankfully, the nurse left the room saying she would come back later.

"This is no fun at all." I groaned quietly, crossing my arms. I just wanted to take a nap by now, and get rid of this grouchiness. Seriously, I could bite someone's head off if I really wanted to. Dad frowned and Remus shrugged.

"That's what we were thinking. What've they done to you so far?' Dad asked, giving a sincere look. Remus folded his hands in his lap all professionally.

"CAT Scans. And a few shots of I don't know what." I said upsettingly.

"I'm sorry this happened, Emileigha." Dad apologized, scratching his head. He couldn't look me in the eyes. I sighed and half smiled. "It's okay Dad, it wasn't your fault anyway. It wasn't anyone's fault but my own. I didn't get out of the way in-time, so…yeah…" is aid awkwardly, then almost laughed about it.

"Well, at least you get out tomorrow. Get away from this place. It's too bad that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, though." Remus mentioned, shaking his head. He and Dad leaned back in their seats and sighed. I nodded in agreement.

"Have you guys noticed that I get hurt I lot?" I joked, changing the subject partially. Dad laughed and Remus smiled. "I mean, in first year I fell down the stairs at Hogwarts. I broke the strangest thing- my thumb. Second year, I recall falling out of a lot of trees at home. Third year, a mix of both of the last two years, except nothing broke. Fourth year- last year- I broke my left index finger and sprang my wrist in a combo. This year, I get a concussion. Awaiting future results."

"huh…maybe you just have some life-long bad luck, then?' Remus said, laughing after. Dad nodded.

"Seems like it to me. It's not every day you fall out of tree in another person's case." Dad pointed out, crossing his leg over the other. I laughed.

"Yeah, just mine, I guess. Maybe there's someone out there who has some good-luck to share with me. "I whispered magically. Dad and Remus looked at me for a minute and started laughing.

"Do you mean my future son-in-law?" Dad asked unsurely, holding back some laughs. "Or just a new friend?"

"Your future son-in-law of course. We'd cause you so much trouble Dad. You too Remus. We'll move in and stay there for the rest of our lives and dye your underwear pink/" I nodded seriously. Dad suddenly got a horror-stricken look on his face and stared at me.

"I don't know about that…I might have to move shortly. You could keep the house." he joked, waving it off. Remus laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Good thing I'm moving out after school."

"What? No, not my brother! What if I need you? You'll be somewhere else!" I exclaimed, giving him a puppy pout. He almost snorted like Lily, but resisted and closed his eyes.

"Then you can call me. Relax, I'll be in London. I just plan on getting a nice flat."

"Oh. Well, that's still too far away. Won't you miss your little sister?" I asked, sticking my bottom lip out. Then the snort came.

"My little sister could call me or visit me any time she wants. She can't marry anyone though." Remus teased, shaking his head.

"I can't marry anyone? Dad, your thoughts?" I asked seriously, narrowing my eyes at Remus. Dad laughed awkwardly.

"I'm going to have to agree. You can stay my little girl for forever and live with me at home. Then I could get fat and lazy and you could just always take care of me and make me cookies and cakes every day." He nodded happily. I laughed and smiled.

"Aw, Daddy- I will. I won't let you get fat and lazy or live with you, though. Just the baking part and being your little girl. All I need is someone to kiss. Preferably someone hot." I said sweetly, as Remus' eyes widened. Dad started laughing his butt off at Remus' expression.

"Emileigha!" Remus exclaimed, slightly shocked. I sniggered.

I love my family. Even though mum is gone, I will never change the way I love them and how much I love them. I will never change our relationships and even though there's one less than the family started out with, it all feels complete. I miss my Mum, but I know she's up there, and she's proud of Dad for moving on, proud of Remus for facing his problem, and maybe even proud of me. I don't know what for, but I'm still thankful that she's watching. I love you, Mum.

A/N- What'd you think? R&R, hope you love it to bits! Thanks for reading, too- it means a lot!


	16. Cupcake Wars!

A/n- Chapter sixteen, here it is! It's been a while since I've updated, I'm sorry! But I'll get back on it now! (: Thanks for reading, girls and guys- it means SO much! Thanks for sticking all the way with Em!

Love,

_**siriuslybritish **_

Chapter Sixteen-

"I missed you so much, Lily." I said to Lily, who was scribbling down what play she wanted to put on. I was hoping that I had talked her into Othello, but I don't really know. I was actually hoping that I talked a few people in voting on Othello. I mean, I worked hard on those posters. I made like ten thousand too- they're all around the school, at least three to four in every hallway. I'd already voted for Othello first thing in class. Lily nodded and stuck her tongue out like a freak. That's us, alright! Super freaks, super freaks…we're super freaky! Oh yes.

"Yeah, I missed you too, Emi! I missed Hogwarts, too. Anything to get away from Nolan and Nathaniel…" Lily shivered; referring to her cousins she spent Christmas with. We were finally back at Hogwarts, onto our regular schedule. It felt amazing to be out of the hospital! Except for a few minor issues…Since I got that concussion, I've had awful headaches and I've gotten pretty dizzy. Plus, there are a few things I can't remember so well and I get really confused about them. Luckily, that's supposed to just fade off within a month or so. The issue between me and Sirius has just gotten worse. He ignores me completely when I try to get through to him, so there's no help there. He stares at me a lot to, and when I look back, he raises his eyebrows and looks away- every single time. Meh.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you were spending Christmas with them. Huh." I laughed. Lily pretended to punch me in slow motion. "OW!" I screamed, pretending that she hit me, and holding the right side of my face. People started to stare and Lily blushed and turned back around. "Lily." I whispered. She didn't answer me. "Lily." No answer. "Lily." Oh come on. "Hey, Lily."

"WHAT?" she exclaimed, whipping her head to me. Her hair hit me in the face and I jumped. I pretended to look hurt and started fake crying. Lily rolled her eyes and patted my shoulder, knowing I was faking. I need to get my killer acting skills back on track!

"I'm sorry, Emi…" she whispered quietly. She was so quiet; I could barely even hear her. "It's that time of the month again. The mood swings are kicking in today."

"Meh..." I said between my hands that were covering my face. Lily stared at me for a second and shook her head like I was an idiot.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm voting for Othello. Your posters are pretty popular, you know." Lily said all-knowingly, raising her eyebrows. I sniffled and lifted my head up from the desk, fake tears rolling down my cheeks. Lily has just witnessed the power of being a good- no, fabulous- actor, has she not? Suddenly, I got a good idea. The perfect prank to play on Remus, maybe a little on James…you know, just to make them feel all weird and uncomfortable with me crying about some girly thing. Perfect, I tell you; perfect. See, last week, James talked Remus into pranking me by putting some part popper in book. When I opened it, I wasn't happy to trip on the stairs as usual and then fall on by but down them. The element of surprise hates me.

"It-it means so much Lily…Thank-you so much. You're such a good-friend…" I said, giving Lily a hug. I finally whispered to her, "Play along. I'm so pranking Remus." Lily pulled away and winked, rubbing my back with the best apologetic look she could muster.

"There, there, Emi…it's okay. There'll be others." Lily said, pretending to be talking about a boy, obviously. Remus, with his hawk eyes and…wolf ears, picked up on our conversation quickly, staring at us from across the room.

"No, Lily- I'll never find another guy like him! He was so perfect…what did I do wrong?" I cried, whipping a tear from my cheek. Lily sighed and kept rubbing my back, while other girls started to stop and stare at us. The first guy that came up? Sirius Black. Dear Godric, please…please no. Anything but a group of girls gossiping about me being upset over Sirius! Crap.

"Aw, look- you didn't do anything wrong. Mason just wasn't up to keeping a nice girl like you. He's a player!" Lily said, catching the fault too. I will definitely thank her later when we're in my common room (she's been spending the night in there). Maybe a piece of chocolate will be a good thank-you…Oh gosh; I'm getting ahead of myself. I mean, it's not like Lily is in Parliament or anything. Chocolate is too valuable.

The bell finally rung, so Lily and I started to head out of the classroom with our things. The Professor stood beside the door with a jar and everyone put their votes in it. Please, Othello…He's our fellow!

Remus walked up to us in the hallway, looking annoyed and worried. The rest of the marauders trailed behind him. I was surprised James didn't come greet Lily all flirty-like or something.

"Alright, who's the guy? I'll kill him." Remus said sternly, nodding. I sniffled, but managed to turn my head and pass a small smile to Lily. I turned back to Remus and hugged him.

"Oh, Remus! He told me he loved me…" I said, sniffling. Remus tensed up and patted my back.

"Tell me who he is." Remus said again, pulling away and looking me in the eyes, dead serious.

"…Adam Cedrics…" I lied. I'm pretty sure there's not anybody around here by the name of Adam Cedrics, so…yeah! Playing it safe, alright! Remus nodded and walked away, going the other direction and leaving the rest of the marauders behind. Is he going to search for a guy named Adam Cedrics, then? Good luck, Remus!

Lily looked at me, holding in a laugh. I kept the sad act on, but gave her a wide smile when I knew nobody was looking at me. Bwahaha…

Lily turned around and stopped, looking at James with a big smile. The marauders had mysteriously disappeared, except for James, who had his hands shoved in his pockets and was looking around.

"James, come on- wanna go get some food with us? We're about to starve."

"Chips!" I groaned, showing my very strong craving for them. Cravings suck!

"I-I don't know…if I…ca-should. I don't know if I should. I have all that homework due tomorrow."

"We've had four inches of parchment due today, and that's all the homework we've been assigned for this week, though…." Lily said sadly, stopping James form walking by us. Why is he acting like that? I thought he'd be happy and Lily-fied, like the usual James. Huh…Why do I have a really strong feeling that this has something to do with me and my ex-best friend? Great.

"Oh, well- you…you know how that is for me! It's like, err, seventeen pages to me, Lily. I gotta get that done. Sorry, girls. I better get going, get a head start." James said quickly, running off in the opposite direction of Remus' way. Lily sighed and slumped her shoulders, looking sad and mopey. Aw, no! Bad James, bad!

And now, this is where I started to feel like Lily's let down on getting James to be the guy she knows is in there is all my fault. Then again, everything's my fault anyways… I'm slowly but surely ruining everyone's friendships, now, I guess.

I looked at Lily and she looked at me.

"It's Sirius, Emileigha, I know it is. He told him something." Lily sighed. I almost cringed at the thought, even though I'd thought about it myself. I didn't expect Lily to think about the same thing, though- so this must be pretty bad, then. I sighed and nodded, hugging my school books to me, like I always did. I looked down as we walked to the picture of the bowl of fruit, which led to the kitchens. Lily raised her eyebrows with another sigh and tickled- yes, tickled- the pear in the painting. The door swung open as the pear admitted a strange, creepy giggle. That giggle always made me think of some creepy horror movie with a mental ward or…something else strange. Maybe I've seen one too many of those? I have to stay occupied over summer between my other things, though. Like night. There is absolutely nothing to do at night in my house, except watch movies and eat sweet things, and pee. I've found that I have to pee most badly during night…Anyways…

Lily opened one of the many fridges in the kitchens and dug through the freezer part of it. When she found a bag of chips, she ripped open the bag. I got out a cookie sheet/pan and sat it on top of the closest oven, then she poured every last chip onto the pan. Sadly, the cookie sheet was too small, so it was sort of over-flowing with chips. Literally, there was a mountain on that thing. She shrugged and put them in the oven, then set the dial and time and they started cooking. Of course, since we happen to be in a magic school, the chips would only take like five minutes in the oven.

I sat on the counter, kicking my feet back and forth, since I definitely had the room to do it, and Lily crossed her arms while leaning against the cabinets beside the stove, across from me.

"Emi…are…are you and Sirius going to make up?" Lily asked curiously and quietly, looking at me. I sighed and looked down at the floor, through my swinging feet.

"I hope so. I only told him about that stuff with me and Regulus because I didn't want him to think that I kept it a secret, and let it come between our friendship...I just don't understand. Or maybe I do." I said sadly, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Lily frowned and looked at her feet.

"Yeah, I see. I'm sorry that happened, but I have to say one thing- why would Sirius take that so freaking personal and all? I mean, that's almost obsessive that he would flip out on you, because his brother hit on you one time. Ridiculous. I know he's not fond of his family, but if he doesn't like them, then why does he even care? I'd just ignore it, flick him off once or twice, if I were Sirius." Lily said, rolling her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling, and I could tell she was getting pretty upset…or mad…furious…all of the above? If only she knew about every single little thing Sirius and his family has against each other…I wouldn't tell her, though- that seems too sneaky and gossip-y. You know, something like Marlene and her girls would do.

"Hm…Well, I'm thinking that the best thing I can do now is wait. Maybe he'll slowly drop the grudge, and I can finally get through to him?" I said hopefully. Like nodded, but had a disappointed face on. "I'm sorry James is acting so weird."

"Yeah…I never would have expected him to do something like that, you know?" Lily said, shaking her head. A smile soon appeared on her face, though, unexpectedly. "But, James is the unexpected, so I guess it fits. Whatever."

"Hah! Well, maybe James is just feeling awkward with both sides of his friends arguing like this." I suggested, shrugging. Lily nodded, just as the oven went off. I hopped off the counter, put on some oven mits, and got the chips out of the oven. For good measure, I added some salt…even though there was already salt on them. Me and Lily just have plans to get fat when we're eighty. But, now that I think of it, our bad eating might catch up to us…Nah, I have soccer coming up. Woo. But what will I do when I'm too old for my team? Oh no, oh no…

Lily got out some ranch, some ketchup, and I got the unhealthiest thing possible- cheese. I put a pan of water on and brung it to a boil, then put another pan on top of it, with the cheese in it, so it'd melt.

"Hey Lily, I have a joke. Okay, so someone walks up to us- we'll say Daniel or someone- and he wants some of our chips, with this cheese. What do we say?" I said, laughing, and popping a chip into some ketchup and stuffing it into my mouth. The mountain of chips was slowly getting smaller and smaller….nooo….

"Uh…we say….no?" Lily said unsurely, taking two chips at a time in some ranch then into her mouth. I got a bowl and carefully poured the hot cheese- or deliciousness, I should say- into it. After that, I think me and lily forgot about the ranch and the ketchup.

"These are nacho chips!" I exclaimed. Lily gave me an incredulous look and shook her head, but managed a laugh. I was the one who was laughing the hardest, of course.

"That was so cheesy! ...Ha-ha…get it? Cheesy?" Lily said, nudging me in the side. I started laughing again, but Lily only let one out. "It's not that funny!"

"It is, though, it is!" I said, stuffing four into my mouth.

"Whoa, don't choke." Lily cautioned, laughing. I shook my head and chewed, then swallowed.

"I've shoved a Willy-Wonka golden-ticket chocolate bar whole before, Lily- I won't choke." I said, nodding, complete assuring. So, me and lily sat there and ate nacho-cheese chips in anything but silence. We talked about way too many things…over our daily gossip limit. Dun, dun, dun….But we still had fun.

"If there's anything I've learned from Marlene, it would be the most truthful saying ever." Lily said seriously, eating another chip. I felt like I was about to throw up, until I saw some chocolate syrup in the fridge as Lily put the ketchup and ranch away. Oh, here we go again.

"And what might that be?" I asked, fancily, staring at the fridge. _Can't…resist…must… fight urge…CHOCOLATE! _

"'True friends don't judge each other- they judge other people together.'" Lily laughed. Well, that seems about right, doesn't it? But seriously, we are soo mean! Hah!

"Aw, we're so mean!" I said aloud, even though I was only thinking it. Lily shook her head no, with a smile. I grinned with a small laugh.

"No, no- we're not mean. We're truthful." She compromised, shrugging and nodding. I gave her a confident thumbs up and she laughed.

"Right, sure we are! We're very, very, very truthful indeed." I said, faking every inch of over-happiness in that sentence. I don't really know why me and Lily find this so funny, actually. I mean, nothing compares to the joke I told earlier, obviously. That was killer!

"You know it." She said. "What do you want to do now?"

"I want chocolate milk!" I screamed, fist bumping the air. Lily motioned for me to calm down and shushed me.

"I'm not your maid, go fix it yourself." She ordered, pointing to the fridge.

"Please, Lily?" I asked.

"No." she said sternly.

"Please, for me?" I pouted, sticking my bottom lip out.

"No!" she exclaimed,

"PLEASE?" I yelled.

"NO!" she screamed.

"Fine then. I'll do it by myself. I'm a big girl." I said, jumping off the counter. I got milk and chocolate syrup out, and sat it on the counter. I got out a goblet when lily stopped me.

"Hey, me too!" she said. I slowly turned around and gave her the death glare.

"I'm not your maid, come fix it yourself."

"Never!"

"Fine, I'll do it." I sighed, getting another goblet out lazily and sitting it beside mine. I got out a spoon and did my magic, but I put way more chocolate in mine. Seriously, the last two inches in the bottom of the goblet were occupied with chocolate.

"Hey, I saw that! Even them out or I'll go insane!" Lily exclaimed, pointing at me from the other counters. I widened my eyes.

"You saw nothing of the sort, Lily!" I said, staring her down.

"Whatever! If you won't even them out, then I will!" Lily snorted, taking one step before I did the unthinkable. She gasped in shock.

"Never!" I said, tipping the whole bottle of chocolate syrup and pouring it into my mouth. I swallowed and looked at her with my wide eyes, even though they didn't get _that _wide. (The joy of having far-set squinty eyes!)

"How dare you!" Lily screamed, running over and whipping the bottle out of my raised hand, just when I had it tipped towards my mouth. Chocolate went from one side of my lip to the end of my other cheek. We both stopped dead in our places and suddenly busted out laughing.

I grabbed the bottle from her and squeezed it as hard as I could, so it would squirt all over Lily's face too. Except this time it got all over Lily's face, from her forehead to her lips. I was laughing hysterically, when I felt something hit me in the stomach. I looked down at my Ravenclaw robes to see that there was chocolate syrup smeared on there. I opened my mouth in awe, and ran at Lily. She screamed and dropped the bottle, then ducked. I grabbed the bottle and opened the top and just poured it on top of her while she was at my feet in a ball. She gasped and screamed all at the same time while I emptied the bottle…by drinking the rest of it, of course. I ran behind an island a bit form me and Lily jumped up. The chocolate ran down her face by now. Hah! Take that, Lily!

As I squatted behind the island, I heard Lily open the fridge and get some stuff out. I peeked up to see three cookie sheets full of iced cupcakes. I ducked just in time before one flew past my head, grazing my hair. Great, now I have blue icing in my hair!

I quickly crawled to the other side of the cabinets Lily was behind and easily slid a tray off a put it in my lap.

I jumped up with the three cupcakes- two in one hand, one in the other- and threw them at Lily. She screamed as one hit her cheek, and the other two hit her legs, covering her skirt with pink and green frosting, her cheek with blue. I missed the hair! No!

"Oh, that's it! CUPCAKE WAR!" Lily yelled at the top of her lungs. I ducked behind the cabinets again as four cupcakes flew past my head. Lily used magic, so I can too! I used 'Wingardium Leviosa' to levitate some cupcakes right where Lily would be, but she was crouched down behind the cabinets again. I put my wand down, and the cupcakes just dropped and it hit Lily. I knew they got her, because she gasped. Every time, every time. I finally stood up and jumped on top of the table, grabbed Lily's pan of cupcakes left up there with me, and dumped them on her. Sure, they didn't all exactly get her the first time, but when she stood up then slid on one, she fell in them again. I started laughing, then accidently rolled off the table, right into the pan of cupcakes I had on my side.

"OW!" I groaned, rubbing my ribs, which were covered in icing. Lily ran to my side and just launched a thousand cupcakes at me. I screamed and tried to block them, but they're cupcakes- they have icing, and it gets on you. "Agh! Lily!"

"Bwahaha!" Lily exclaimed, and then I stood up, almost tripping. I mean, there was icing all over my face… It was hard to see. There was one cupcake left, one that I hadn't seen on the table. We both went for it, and I didn't get it, this time. Lily shoved it right in my mouth…I laughed, but it came out all weird and muffled. Lily started laughing hysterically with me.

"I can't believe we just did that!" she exclaimed, fist bumping me playfully. I chewed for a second and swallowed hard, then caught my breath.

"Yeah, that was pretty crazy. And now, we match that craziness." I nodded, gesturing to our clothes. Lily nodded and we got our wands out.

"Scourgify!" We recited in unison. There was a noise that reminded me of a vacuum cleaner, and we were clean, including our faces and hair and what not.

"It feels good to be clean." Lily nodded powerfully, squinting. I striked a still pose, something that a guy who cared deeply for his fashion would do, and winked.

"I feel pretty!" I said slowly, breaking the pose and twirling.

"Yeah? Are you done with your little model show over there?" Lily asked, laughing. I stopped.

"What, you don't like my modeling?" I asked, pretending to be shocked.

"Well, Lockhart might. You lucky person, you! And Daniel, too- he might." Lily said, shrugging and then pointing at me. I shook my head in disgust.

"You can have them." I said, checking my nails like Marlene always did. Lily growled and I quit. Man, she's like Remus- hawk eyes, and wolf senses… 'And if you don't like my poses, just tell me, Lily."

"Fine, I don't like your poses." Lily said, crossing her arms, as we made our way out of the kitchens and down the hallway with our stuff. We started to come up to Ravenclaw tower.

"I knew it. You know what I don't like?" I said, looking at her from the side.

"What?" Lily furrowed her brow. I grabbed my stomach and closed my eyes.

"The fact that I'm going to throw up, now..."

A/N- Hello, loves! Review, tell me what you liked and what you didn't like about this chapter! (:

Don't forget to favourite and follow! Xoxo!


	17. What a Waste!

A/N- Hey guys! This chapter is much shorter than the others, but there'll be another long one next, almost done! (: Thanks for reading, sorry if you don't like it. It's a short, playful chapter, meant to be humorous, that's all. Thanks, again!

-_**siriuslybritish**_

Chapter Seventeen-

"AGH! I HATE YOU, JAMES POTTER!" Lily screamed from the couch a few feet over from me. I had just witnessed the craziest thing in the history of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- no doubt about it. And it could only get worse.

Okay, so here's what happened: Earlier, I watched James set up some prank specifically for Peter. James had used some spells for the prank, first getting a big plastic tub and perfectly securing it to a beam on the ceiling with the help of his magic. He had filled the tub with some sort of blue sparkly powder before he put it up, though. SO, anyways, I watched from the couch in curiosity as he pulled out a black sharpie marker and drew an X exactly under the tub, which was slanting downwards. A rope extended from the tub, which James had securely tied to a doorknob about the other side of the room. Apparently, if you opened the door, the tub would pour out. Hm. James quickly walked to the doorknob and whispered a spell, touching his wand to the rope, as it went invisible what so ever. I furrowed my eyebrows as James raced back over and made a series of dots on the couch with the black sharpie. He made a rectangle with both of his thumbs and index fingers, much like a movie director would to check out a scene, and observed his work. He traced his index finger from as high as he could reach from the tub, to the dots on the couch. James looked around and bit his lip nervously, knowing that I was in there.

"Don't tell anyone, Emi, alright?" James asked sternly, pointing at me all teacher-like. I nodded.

"Okay…but, James? Who's this for?" I asked curiously, motioning to his odd, odd prank.

"Peter!" James said goofily, laughing quietly. "Oh, here he comes! Act natural…" James quickly sat down beside the dotted seat and grabbed the closest thing to him- a magazine. Not just any magazine, but a '_Quidditch: Players and the Game_' magazine, specifically for teenage girls. James flipped to the middle and scanned the two pages, but a look of disgust came upon his face. I made an effort to make myself tall, so I could see that picture of George Wendell in his knickers for his modeling shoots. He was once a Quidditch player, and now… now he's a Quidditch player _and _a model!

I got comfy again and turned back to the fire-place as Lily made her way down the stairs, a mean look on her face. Today was not a good day for her. It's that time again. I held my breath, knowing what was bound to happen…

James whipped around, noticing it was peter from the corner of his eye.

"Lily, don't sit-" James was cut off by Lily, who stood beside the couch he was on. She groaned.

"Hey, I can sit here. You want me to sit here by you, don't you?" She said sternly, her hand on her hip. She started to sit, but James jumped up and stopped her.

"No, you don't underst-" James was cut off again, by Lily, who put the other hand of hers on her hip.

"Me? I don't understand? Since when can you read my min-" This time, Lily was cut off, as the door the rope was tied to burst open and the tub tipped downwards. Blue powder, dark blue powder I mean, fell down over James and Lily both, and sparkles flew everywhere. Like a dust cloud, the powder made its way a few inches around the two. The tub swung down and hit Lily's whole back side and she was pushed forward onto James, after attempting to grab the couch. She missed the couch, of course, and red fireworks went at them both, bursting all around. Party poppers came out from under the couch, and then a fat grey cat growled and hissed, racing out form the same location. It jumped on Lily's back to get away, and Lily's face turned red. Not out of embarrassment, but because she was angry. Simply furious, at that matter.

That brings us back to the current situation…

"AGH! I HATE YOU, JAMES POTTER!" Lily screamed, covered in blue powder from head to toe. She slapped James right across the face, as hard as she could and jumped up. James sat up quickly and rubbed his cheek where she hit him.

"Ow…!" he exclaimed quietly, giving Lily a sad look.

"YOU PRANKED ME!" she shrieked, pointing in his face. James stood up defensively, putting his hands up.

"I told you not to sit there!" he said in reply, shrugging. Lily brushed some firework ashes of her shoulders and pulled a streamer out of her hair. As the streamer came out of her hair, some confetti followed after. Sparkles puffed out from her with every fierce breath she took ferociously.

"AND MY CAT! I JUST GOT HIM!" she yelled, stomping hard. I swear to Godric, the floor shook. She turned to me with evil hawk eyes, knowing that I had been watching. I jumped and put my nose back in my Sherlock book. Oh god… "Emi, go find my cat." Lily ordered, tryign to stay calm for me. I nodded and put my book down, ignoring the long, loud and mean lecture Lily was giving to James as I made my way out of the door the rope was tied to, which the cat ran out of.

I found myself in a hall way I'd never been in before. There were portraits everywhere, of course, and they were all arguing over who was the fairest. As you may have guessed, it was only the women.

"Lumos." I recited aloud, as my wand lit up. I sighed at how long the hall way was and jumped as I heard the cat hiss again from down the hall. Great.

A guy in one portrait, who was reading something by none other than Merlin himself, looked up and winked at me.

"You look like you know what you're doing, hermoso…" he said with a Spanish accent, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm Alonso."

"Oh…okay…" I said awkwardly, slightly waving, as I continued on my way. He called after me, though.

"Wait, Senorita! At least tell me your name."

"…Emileigha…?"

"Ah, Emileigha. It sounds like a beautiful princess's name, no? But, that beautiful princess is locked in a tower. There is a certain sorrow about her, una tristeza eterna, as she gazes out her one and only single window, staring off into the sunset above a sweet golden field of luscious wheat, waiting for her one and only Prince charming, el verdadero amor…" he trailed off, setting his book down and flexing his muscles.

"Well, I already found my prince a while ago. Tell md when you find yours, Alonso." I said, rushing off down the hall way. I was a good ten feet away before he called back.

"Si, I will- wait, what?! Hey!" Alonso yelled. I heard the desk he was at move and creak, so h was probably standing now. I rolled me eyes at him…

And then karma tripped me.

Well, it wasn't exactly karma that tripped me; it was the stupid grey cat I was after.

The cat ran out in front of me, and I was looking- too busy rolling my eyes- and I tripped over it. It scratched my arm and I jerked away as it hissed, arching it's back. I grabbed my wand and blew a piece of hair out of my face, staring at the fat cat in front of me.

"CAT!" I screamed angrily, pointing in it face. It meowed after and pawed my finger. I jerked away again and it jumped. See, I hate cats. I hate them so much. I'm allergic, too- they make my eyes itchy is all. I reached out to grab the cat, but it growled at me, so I quickly put my hands down again.

"I don't know why Lily got you, and I don't know when she did either, but I've got to get you back to her. So…" I went to grab the cat again and it swatted at me, just missing by an inch or so. I tried again, and the same thing happened. I huffed, annoyed, and the cat looked at me and meowed. He knows he's being mean, I know it… "Well! You know what? I will not sit here like a crazy person and talk to a cat. Forget you." I stood up and walked back down the hallway, my hands up. Crap that cat! I heard it meow a few more times, and I started to feel bad, but then I somehow managed to find some conclusion, and eventually forgot. Cats aren't my thing, you know? I'm a dog person, by far.

I mean, they're all so lovable, and furry, and just plain adorable!

I made it back to Alonso's portrait. See, the strange thing is, he existed at one point in time. Who knows, maybe he still does. You never know with us wizards.

"Ah, my princess! It feels like I've waited oh so many sunrises, moping at the thought of each and every sunset for you." He said, winking. I raised my eyebrows.

"Look, I'm sorry, I love- I mean like…like…I _like _someone else, a lot."

"Ah, you like or you _love_?" Alonso asked, eyeing my suspiciously. I gulped, feeling my cheeks redden. I don't love Sirius! I just like him! That's all…I just like him…right?

"LIKE!" I said loudly, turning on my heel and sprinting for the door. He replied, laughing, but I couldn't understand any of it. I whipped open the door, breathing heavily, and Lily's stupid cat ran between my legs, up the girls dormitory stairs. I walked inside and nearly screamed, but slapped my hands over my mouth. Right there in front of me, on the couch, was Lily and James…snogging! I shrugged- I mean, we all knew that it would happen sometime soon, didn't we?

"AGH!" I screamed anyways, just wanting to see their reactions. Lily pushed James away from her, and eh feel off the couch, a dreamy look on his face.

"This isn't what it looks like, Emi! I swear, it isn't!" Lily said in defense, hopping up with her hands up. I gave her a 'really-I-bet-you-mean-that' look and she sighed. "Okay, it is what it looks like."

"Lily kissed me…!" James sighed dreamily, rubbing his face. Geez, Lily…

Lily and I just glanced at James, like we understood already and went back to our conversation.

"Me and James…are sort of…dating…I know, it's shocking." Lily said, closing her eyes.

"No, I kind of already figured that you were. I'm pretty sure everyone had their own little assumptions, Lily." I said, stifling a short laugh. Lily's eyes widened.

"What?! No! How?" she demanded, crossing her arms. I shook my head.

"Lucky guess…" is aid quickly. Secretly, we all had our small conversations behind lily and James's backs, all about how they would date here then get married and have smart quidditch-playing babies. If Lily knew, there's no telling what would happen to me. Something awful, for sure.

I might even lose an eye…an arm maybe…

"Wait! Does this mean that you guys pranked me?! That blue powder thing was all in effort to get me away, so you two could snog senselessly?" I exclaimed, holding a finger up. I felt mighty serious, standing there in a pair of fluffy pink and white argyle p.j pants and a white camisole. Pink is by far the most manly and serious colour, obviously. That is why is stand proudly!... and to think that Remus never wears pink. No wonder!

Oh, I almost forgot my killer slippers! They're those fabulous and stylish slippers that have ears that come up with each step! My slipper animal? A dog, of course! A pink dog, to be exact. **He** is in fact, a '_him'_.

James and Lily both scratched the back of their heads in unison and shrugged. Weird.

"Yeah…sorry I lied to you, Emi. But, Lily told me to, so…" James said, first as an apology then in protest. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Lily.

"Ah, I did…BUT James here isn't supposed to tell." Lily grimaced, glancing at James.

"So I gotta take the blame?" James smirked playfully.

"No, we blame it on Remus!" Lily smiled, laughing.

"Hey, that was a good pranks wasted! Blame yourselves! It could have been played on Peter!" I exclaimed, breaking the funny and playful argument.

"DO you have something against Peter?" Lily asked curiously. I shook my head.

"No, it's just that he's always so least expectant, you know?"

"True." Lily said.

"Yeah, your right. I'll do it again soon."

"Seriously, that was crap. Why'd you use the sharpie, James? Such a waste!" I sighed, flopping down on the nearest couch. "I sat there and watched you work on that so carefully. And Lily! You made me go get that stupid cat! I don't like cats!" I whined.

"That wasn't my cat, actually…" Lily said.

"Aw, What?! Come on, I…I got hit on by a bloody Spanish man!"

A/N-hope you stifled a laugh or two out, guys! Thanks for reading, I promise the next chapter will be much, much, much, much better indeed! Review, Favourite, love!


	18. Boy Adventures! Part One

A/N- Tell me if you laugh? (: Enjoy! Special thanks to the brilliant **R.J. North**for such a great idea about Sirius! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Eighteen-

"Hey Emi, wake up." Lily called, but I was half asleep, warm and toasty snuggled up in bed with one too many blankets. I barely opened one eye, to look around for Lily but…no one was in the room. Jenna had left early, as usual, and by now it was six...in the afternoon. I most certainly did NOT sleep that long, though. I came inside for a nap at four- well; I think it was four, at least. Oh well…it doesn't really matter…

I distinctly recalled last night, when Lily had persuaded me to go back and see the Spaniard I met up with in that weird hallway, Alonso. Apparently, she didn't believe me and thought I was giving her pity story to make her feel bad. But…I knew it was because she wanted to change the whole subject of her and James dating. That's Lily for ya! Boy, Alonso likes to talk. You know, I told him I liked someone else (cough, Sirius, cough), but he still hits on me. At least he leans towards the more romantic things, instead of…well, the Lockhart way. Ugh. It's not like I'm that

Me and Lily have our own things that make us feel uncomfortable. Lily is really embarrassed to eat in front of lots and lots of people, and she's iffy when it comes to affection in front of others. That's why she wanted me away when she and James were…snogging, apparently. Me? I'm really self-conscious about my body. I don't know why, I just am! I mean, I've actually been in connection with an eating disorder before. Crazy, considering all the junk food and chocolate I eat! I've surprisingly managed to stay skinny, though, and so has Lily…hm…

I closed my eye again, sighing sleepily, and rolled over towards the window.

"WAKE UP!"

"Mrr…eh…hmmrrr…." I groaned into my pillow. I slowly opened my eyes sleepily again, but this time both of them, and jumped. I sat upright and stared at the tiger mask peeking into my window perfectly, staring at me. I caught a glimpse of a fiery red ponytail and knew it was Lily already. A tiger mask? How practical of her.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. it was slowly getting dark outside (so it must be earlier than six…), and Lily's face was illuminated now by a flashlight as she took the mask off and climbed inside my room. of course, she fell when she tried to get her other leg inside. She let out an 'oof' as she hit the ground, then stood up wobbly.

"Come on, let's go!" Lily said excitedly, motioning for me to come. She was bundled up in a black pea coat, black mittens, black jeans, black boots, and a black hat with a black bundle of yarn on top. All black, sleek and sneaky!

"Where?" I groaned, falling back on my pillow again lazily.

"The bloody forbidden forest! Come on! I've got the potions!" Lily said, shaking a bottle filled with red liquid at me. Oh yeah!

"It's already that time again? Okay, okay- I'm coming. Do I have to wear all black?" I sighed wonderingly. Lily sighed after me and put her hand on her hip, still holding the bottle.

"Please do. I don't want to feel like an idiot." Lily pouted. I laughed and began to look for some black stuff. I grabbed a pair of my darkest denim jeans, a black V-Neck, black fur boots, and a black zip-up jacket with grey fur around the rims of the hood. I grabbed a pair of grey knit mittens.

"Then why'd you wear so much black?" I asked curiously. Lily headed for the window again. She started to climb out of it, and I followed close behind. We'd done this a million times, and we were lucky to know the spell to make ourselves invisible to everyone for now. I mean, I don't think anyone would think that it was normal to see two teenage girls sneaking out of a window. Then again…doesn't that happen a lot in the real world?

"Because, Emi, I was in one of those moods where you feel like a shadow…or a ninja!" Lily said excitedly. I shook my head and laughed.

"Oh come on, Lily." I said matter-of-factly. She snorted.

"What?" Lily asked, as we made our way down Professor Sprout's lattice, which was quite hard to get down considering all the ivy growing through every square. Lily got down perfectly, and I was about five steps above her when I looked down and just decided to jump down from there. I landed with a light thud on the ground.

"We both know that I would obviously be the better ninja out of the two of us!" I teased.

"Hey! Fine then, I'll be a shadow if I have to." Lily said, snapping. We looked around for any sight of someone and, seeing that nobody was in sight, we sprinted for the forest.

We maneuvered our way through the twisted branches and vines in the forest, jumping over logs and things and sometimes climbing over an elephant-sized root or two. We ducked, trying not to get tangled up in the knotted vines and, because of Lily's excitement and 'running', I got slapped by at least five or six branches. We both arrived at the pond we found in second year, catching our breath. We had cleaned it up around here quite a bit- there was no trash in sight, the branches and twigs were either tossed back into the woods or in neat piles all around, and we used magic to trim the grass! It was perfectly beautiful- and all for us! We were lucky to find a really nice tree house here, but it's in the tallest tree, of course, so it's hard to climb all the way up there. This tree house is no ordinary tree house that little children would play house in with their best friends and then hopelessly fall out of when their older and go back to check their memories out (sorry, I had to use my own experience from there.). No, this tree house is 100% safe and it has a magical enchantment on it, which make sit have three rooms- a bathroom, a kitchen (duh!), and a chill-out/hang-out room. We might as well not even have a kitchen- just a chocolate room. I mean that's all that's in there. Plus, we got Hagrid to develop some sort of fridge in a tree trunk, and that's where we put our butterbeers and pumpkin juice. Our little hang out room has bowls full of jellybeans everywhere. One dish full is specifically Bertie and Bott's, just for the heck of it.

The pond was frozen over, a thin layer of ice coating the top, and small frosty portions of snow rest here and there. Lily took one last long breath and turned to me, then reached into her pocket and pulling out a headband with white wolf ears on it. I laughed and put it on after she handed it to me. Lily cleared her throat.

"ROAR!" she yelled loudly.

"A-OOOOO!" I howled. E both started laughing again and Lily kneeled down to unzip her bag. I joined her on my knees, kneeling beside her on the ground. She carefully pulled a vial full of red liquid, the one I'd seen before, and opened the top. The cork sealing in the potion popped and flew off somewhere. Creepy enough, the potion was kind of…steamy. Yes, it was steaming.

So it's hot? I mean, it's still cold outside…

Every year since we found this place, Lily and I made a vow to come out here and test some crazy potion that we made near the end of the year. It takes a lot of asking and begging, but we always get Professor Slughorn to let us stay after some days and work on any potion of our choice. We flipped to one page, cover the top of the book with another book so we can't see which one it is, and get to making it. This time, Lily made it by herself. Dangerous? Sometimes. Fun? Very much. Are we crazy? I couldn't tell you, but I'm sure anyone else could.

"You didn't look, right?" I asked, just to be sure. Lily huffed and rolled her eyes playfully.

"No, of course not! Now then," she poured the potion evenly into two plastic cups she got from her bag, "Cheers!" Lily handed me one cup, and I gave a toast.

"Here's to being crazed and getting ourselves into troublesome events naturally. Amen!"

"Long live the…us! Long live us!" Lily said, correcting herself. We both took the potion down, tipping our cups, and downed it in one gulp.

"Ah…Well, I was expecting that to be…AGH!" i said, my mouth suddenly feeling like it was on fire. I slapped my hands over my mouth as my eyes started to water. This was like Habanero burning or something, man! Lily did the same as me and ran to the trunk fridge, pulling out two bottles of pumpkin juice. She threw one to me and I freaking guzzled it. "oh my god, sweet relief…"

"HOLY CRAP! Emi!" Lily shrieked, dropping her bottle and pointing at me. I jumped around frantically, freaking out. What? I thought there was a bug on me or something! I may or may not have a phobia against spiders…

"Wha- AGH! Lily!" I did the same to her. Oh my goodness….

"You're a boy!" we said in unison to each other. The first thing I did was realize that our voices had changed. We both sounded like two super-geeky guys from the library- cute, but not so deep. Then I touched my hair- well, I reached for it, but missed. I now had bangs that swept over my eyes and my hair was darker, and Lily had a regent style, except brown hair. Lily grabbed her chest. Right- guys don't have boobs. Then she looked down, but whipped her head up before her chin could touch her chest. She closed her eyes.

"NO!" she cried. "I don't want to be a boy, Emi!"

"Me either! Dang it, Lily- why'd you pick this potion?!" I criticized, running a hand through my hair.

"I don't know!" Lily responded, throwing her hands up worriedly. I put my hands in my hands in my hair like I was stressed. How?

"We have to undo this…We gotta go to Slughorn!" I exclaimed. Lily shook her head quickly, putting her hands up at me. Her eyes were wide and she looked completely mortified.

"No way! Let's just wait it out, here! I will not let him see me, as a boy." Lily said.

"Lily, I will not stand up to pee." I said sternly, pointing in her face.

"Oh…Fine! Let's go…" Lily sighed in defeat. Her face was dim and she looked straight out embarrassed. Lily turned on her heel and we slowly trudged back to the castle. Boo! Bad night! I expected lots of fun and lots of laughs, not short hair and a **flat chest**!

Just as we were at the open Great Hall doors, someone called out to us. Oh no, oh no. We turned to them nervously. Wait- the invisible spell wore off?! NOO! I thought it was supposed to last longer! I mean, it normally does anyways! What're we gonna do, now?

"Hey! You guys…uh…new?" James Potter asked us curiously, eyeing us up and down. I forgot- we're still in our original black clothes…all girly and such. After all, I'm the oen with the fur hood. That _just_ _has_ _to_ look great on a boy.

"Uh...uh…yeah! Yeah, we're new! Right…E-" Lily said, elbowing me.

"Haha, right…" I laughed nervously, elbowing Lily back. James and the rest of the marauders raised their eyebrows, but Remus looked the most suspicious. I looked down at my feet, noticing that I was, in fact, wearing a vibrant blue pair of sneakers. Lily was wearing the same kind, but they were yellow.

"What's up with your clothes?" Peter asked curiously, as Sirius punched his shoulder.

"Oh, uh…we like to cross dress! We're cross dressers!" I lied, faking a smile. Lily nodded goofily.

"Well, I'm James, That's Sirius, this is Remus, and over there is Peter." James said, introducing us to everyone.

"I-I'm…Logan! And…and this is…" Lily trailed off nervously, scratching the back of her head.

"Ethan! I'm Ethan!" I said loudly, lightly kicking Lily. She shoved me, and I shoved her back. They all laughed.

"Well then, Ethan and Logan, do you like trouble?" Sirius asked, smirking deviously. Me and Lily widened our eyes and James laughed.

"What kind of trouble?" I asked. Sirius furrowed his brow.

"…What kind of trouble are you thinking of? I mean trouble as in you do something wrong and the Professor busts you…" Sirius said awkwardly. I laughed again, making into a deep fake chuckle, and Lily joined in. The marauders gave us a weird look.

"Okay…We'll take that as a yes. Come on, we'll show you a really cool passage way in Gryffindor. What house are you guys in?" James asked, leading us through the Great Hall by now.

"I-I'm in Ravenclaw." I stuttered. I glanced at Lily carefully and she nodded coolly. Meanwhile, the girls in the Great Hall were starting to stare. I hoped they were drooling over the marauders, not me and Lily…

Until a few pointed exactly at the both of us.

NO- LOOK AWAY!

I grimaced and Peter caught it, along with Lily's. He gave us an unusual look, raising one brow. I gulped and tried to laugh it off, but he cut me off first.

"Girls like you two a lot, huh?" he asked. See, Peter never talked this much to any other girl.

"Y-yeah, guess so." I said worriedly. Lily squeaked, squinting her eyes like she couldn't believe any of this crap- just like me!

"_We_ even have a fan club." Peter said proudly. Then he nodded to himself. "Well, I don't. Remus, Sirius and James do, though- so that's pretty cool!"

"Uh…I-I have to pee! Like, really, really, _really_ bad!" I said suddenly, when we were passing the girls bathroom.

"Oh, well there's a bathroom where we're going." Sirius said slowly and awkwardly, motioning to follow him still. Lily and I stopped in our tracks and Lily shook her head.

"No, we have to pee now. No doubt about it, for sure." Lily said quickly as I dragged her to the bathroom with me. Yes, the girl's bathroom. Luckily, it was the abandoned girl's bathroom, but…it was still kind of weird for a boy to go in there. Myrtle shreiked when we stumbled in, of course, and flew through us angrily, disappearing into an empty stall afterwards. We heard the toilet flush and soon water leaked form that particular stall, so we knew she went down. Huh.

"Lily, we gotta ditch these clothes! I feel weird in girl's clothes!" I exclaimed, ripping my jacket off, as a black beanie fell out of the hood. I stared down at it. It was made for boys…? How? What is going on here?!

Lily pointed at our shirts as we looked in the mirror. We had long-sleeved, white button-up shirts on with our House badges sewn on in the corner. We both still had our original black skinny jeans on, and we were much smaller than before. We were...scrawny. But, if I was my real girl self and this boy version of me was someone else, I might consider dating him. I'll admit it, I made a very cute boy… Oh, and that sounds weird…

Lily and I looked exactly alike, except she had freckles here and there and regent-styled brown hair, I had…well, I don't know what to call my current hair colour. I frowned and lily pulled a face, making sure it was really her in that reflection. I put the black beanie on, holding a sad frown.

"Oh man, oh man." She said, shaking her head and brushing back her bangs. "I think we're starting to become more and more like boys, Ethan- I mean Emi. Emi. "

"Yeah? I do too! We'll have to sneak off to Slughorn's soon." I said frantically, closing my eyes after. Maybe this is a dream.

I opened them again. Crap. Of course not! It's Hogwarts, nothing is ever a dream here, because if magic and unicorns are real, then so is everything else! AGH!

"What if…What if we stay this way for….for forever? NOOO!" Lily screamed, dropping to her knees. I clamped my hand over her mouth.

"Shut up! They'll hear us, dude- dude-ett. No, I mean Lily! Oh my god, this is awful!" I screamed in a harsh whisper. My voice cracked somewhere along the way and Lily glanced upa t me. I helped her up and she fixed her shirt agitatedly.

"Let's go." She said grumpily. We quickly stumbled out of the bathroom, where the Marauders were huddled in a circle. They each whipped around when we got closer to them, like they were talking about us. Well, of course they were. I mean, I'd be talking about two clumsy boys who act like girls mostly and all…

"Hey…guys…" I said awkwardly, waving quickly. Lily slapped my hand donw to my side, then punched my arm. I punched her back and the guys watched in slgith amusement as we fought it out. "Okay, okay! Chill out, dude…" I laughed. Lily's eyes widened at my mistake. Whoops!

"Guys, come on- Gryffindor Tower is this way." James smiled, motioning for us to follow him. We nodded and walked close behind the four boys.

Wait, are we going to the place with the Spanish guy?

A/N- Favourite, Review, Love! Part two is next up! (:


	19. Boy Adventures! Part Two

A/N- Ah, we meet again, love! Thanks for reading! (: I hope you like Part two of Boy Adventures. Special thanks to **R.J. North** for her lovely compliments, and her encouragement she's been so kind to give me! Another thanks to **xXallegedangelXx** for her idea she let me use in this chapter! Thanks so much! Keep Reading!

Chapter Nineteen-

I agitatedly followed the marauders through the Gryffindor Common Room. But, of course, we were stopped by none other than Marlene's posse. Well, crap.

"Hey, Remus! Who're your friends?" Marlene asked Remus excitedly, winking at me. My eyes widened, and I jolted back on instinct.

"Oh…Uh…that's Logan, and this is Ethan." Remus said, motioning to the both of us. Lily waved, irritated, one hand in her jean pocket.

"Ah, well I'm Marlene. I like your hair, Ethan…Cool sneakers, too…" Marlene giggled, tucking a curl behind her ear. I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah….Uh…thanks, I guess?" I choked out nervously, scratching the back of my head. Lily started to laugh, and turned away to let a few out. I kicked her heel pretty hard after that.

"OW! What the crap, man?" she asked, whipping around.

"Don't laugh at me!" I yelled jokingly, shoving her. She shoved me back.

"Why, are you uncomfortable around all of these girls?" I paused and narrowed my eyes .

"AGH! This is crap. Let's go talk to Alonso."

"Who?" Lily asked.

"Alonso." I said.

"Alfonso?" Lily said surely.

"Alonso." I corrected, shoving her. Everyone was watching us.

"Right, that's what I said. Alfonso." Lily joked, nudging my side and chuckling. I groaned.

"No, bro. A-L-O-N-S-O. Alonso, with a freaking S. Alright?"  
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Are you two done? Because I have some questions." Marlene spoke up.

"Ask them, then." Logan- I mean Lily- sighed. I rolled my eyes, hiding behind Lily, who was still taller than me.

"Gladly! Are you two twins?" Marlene asked. I decided to have a little fun with these answers, feeling the goofy guy side kick in by now. I smirked.

"Nope. We're not even related. We could pass for it though, huh?"

"Yeah. Huh. Okay, next question. Do you both have girlfriends…or boyfriends? Whatever you have…" Marlene laughed nervously. I laughed.

"Uh…Uh…I have a friend that I really have a little crush on. Her name is Emileigha. She's in Ravenclaw, too." I said, winking at Logan….Lily. Lily got the idea and played along perfectly. It's mean, but, well…You know what? I am desperate. Yes, yes I am.

"Yeah, she's real cute. " Lily said. Sirius' eye seriously started twitching. Everyone was quiet. "But, we're both in a relationship."

"Oh, I see. I'm fine with Emileigha, but I don't like Lily. She's mean, and I don't like mean people." Marlene nodded seriously. I glanced at Lily, who was twitching herself. Sirius had his eyes narrowed at me, arms crossed. "Anyways. Do you wanna go to Hogsmede with me and the girls sometime? Next Saturday, maybe? You can bring Logan, too, Ethan." I frowned.

"Nah, sorry- I can't. This is actually my last day here. Logan's too. That's why we have to go do something as quick as possible. Plus, I'm with someone already. Let's go….I-I kind of forgot all your names. I'm sorry, I'm not too smart." I said, faking a better personality that was easy to understand. I tapped my head and pulled a face.

"Wait! Who're you two with?!" Marlene cried loudly, pulling on Lily's shirt. Lily snorted, but continued talking to me. She smacked Marlene's hand lightly, trying to get it off her side.

"That one is Peter, that one is James, that one is Sirius and that one is Linus. And Marceline, we're with each other. " Log-…Lily pointed out. My eyes widened in disbelief, but the guys didn't seem to mind. Maybe they thought we were joking, to get away from the girls, when Lily said we were together? I could definitely tell Lily was trying to be kind of mean

Remus coughed and looked over at us.

"_Remus_." Remus corrected, raising his eyebrows at Logan, ignoring what just happened. "It's _Remus_."

"Whoops. I knew that." Logan said, waving it off. I nudged him.

"I bet you did." I smirked teasingly_. Lily _shook _her_ head playfully.

"Shut up." she laughed. Marlene glanced at us angrily and stormed off and the rest of her group followed far behind, staying after for a few seconds to look at us some more. We're not that cute, are we? I must be, if Logan here is dating me. I kind of feel weird now…Ugh…

What's going on, anyways? I mean, I really do hope me and Lily don't stay boys forever, if we don't make it to Slughorn. This is obviously a major down side to trying potions nonchalantly and care free like this…But…I'm afraid we'll still have to do this. A tradition is a tradition, and we only have two years left of Hogwarts. We have to get all the craziness out, even though there might be a lot more left _after_ we graduate.

Anyways, now that I think I'm back to my usual self on the inside, I'm pleased to point out that Sirius totally got jealous. It's awful of me to say it, but that kind of makes me happy- that means he likes me! Plus…he likes me, even though he's mad at me. It's hard to understand, but Rowena knows that I'll always understand that thing. Now I'm just worried about what Alonso will say. Surely he won't recognize me- I look different, of course. Then again, I think he's a top-notch magical guy…maybe he already knows- like a psychic. You never know.

Well, just my luck.

"Hello there!" Alonso greeted as we were only four feet away from his portrait. Sirius was the first to waltz over beside Alonso, then James, Remus, and Peter. Followed after. Me and Lily, who was hopefully getting herself to lessen the male side by now, stared at him. I glanced at Lily from the corner of my eye. She raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, Alonso." James said.

"Where is el tulipan hermosa? Si, Emileigha?" Alonso asked curiously.

"She didn't come…" Remus said, annoyed. Sirius narrowed his eyes at him.

"Ah, that's too bad. Did you come to talk, no?"

"Yeah, it's a boring night. We wanted to get into some trouble, so…we thought about you." Sirius said deviously, shoving his hands in his pockets. They each advanced a few steps towards the painting. Alonso gulped.

"O-oh….How nice….I-I suppose I could, err, give s-some good advice in this-this trouble…" Alonso said in the bravest tone he could muster, even though he still sounded scared. What're they gonna do to him?! I don't have a good feeling about this…Of course, that's a dead give-away: it's the marauders we're dealing with!

James sighed and went for the top of the portrait.

"You ditched the bro code, Alonso." James said, as he took the portrait off the wall.

Holy crap, is that the same thing as killing him? Taking him off the wall?

Not the Spanish man!

"NO! What- what is this bro code you speak of? Sueltame a la vez! Put me back! Please, I beg of you, please!" Alonso cried, gripping the sides of his portrait frame, but not coming out of the painting. Sirius snagged a velvet sack out of his back pocket. He whipped it out and it unfolded itself, then held it open wide enough for James to slide the screaming Alonso inside.

"Come on, guys! Leave him alone!" I suddenly spattered out. Lily punched me in the arm lightly and was quite tempted to push me.

"Shut up…" she hissed quietly so only I could hear her. Sirius cocked one eyebrow.

"What? We're just having some fun." He said smoothly. James nodded as he pulled the gold string on the velvet back to a close, shutting off the loud screams of Alonso down to a muffled cry.

"Yeah, chill out. We do this all the time." Sirius said flatly, then whistling 'Fur Elise' afterwards.

"Steal innocently unsuspecting paintings off the walls in secret passages so nobody can hear their pitiful cries for help as you stuff them in a bag?" Lily asked, surprised. I nodded quickly, the exact same reaction on my face.

"…Well, I guess you could say it like that." James said thoughtfully, as an awkward silence filled the hallway passage. Sirius cleared his throat.

"We're not gonna do anything too mean to him." Sirius said finally, breaking the silence. James nodded.

"Yeah, we're just gonna stick him in our friend's room." James said thoughtfully.

"Whose?" I asked curiously. Lily stepped forward with me.

"Lily Evans." Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Lily said, shocked.

"You can't do that!" I said shrilly, grabbing my hair, knocking my beanie off.

"Why not?" James whined, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, do you even know Lily?" Sirius asked. He paused as James interrupted his next sentence, looking over at him.

"Look, it'll be hilarious. Lily told me, she's my girlfriend by the way, that she doesn't like him." James said flatly, clicking his tongue nonchalantly as Sirius slung the velvet bag over his shoulder, nodding. They all started to walk forward, but Lily and I were just standing there like idiots. Finally, we caught up with them after a few seconds, sprinted actually.

"So then I got the idea that if we put him in her room or at least by her door or something, she'd be soo annoyed." Sirius finished at last, patting Lily's shoulder.

"Just a little prank." James concluded, patting my own shoulder too.

"No!" Lily and I shrieked in unison.

"Why not? Tell us! Just tell us!" Sirius whined, stopping with the rest of the Marauders, Lily and me.

"We thought you liked trouble! We have taken you both under our wings, so you could experience the magic that goes on in our pranks." James said magically, his eyes unreadable and glassy- no joke. Sirius looked the same. Man, they sure do love their pranks, don't they?

"And who knows, maybe you could learn a little thing about being handsome, from the definition himself." Sirius said, motioning to himself. He rubbed his stomach. What? I was really surprised when he lifted up the front of his shirt a bit, just to show some abs. "I could even teach you how to get some of _these_."

I was staring at Sirius, when Lily suddenly stomped on my foot. Is napped into reality, and crap did I hit it hard when I came back. Sirius gave me a funny look and let go of his shirt.

"Ethan!" Lily yelled, shoving me. I stumbled and faked a good-sounding laugh.

"What?" I asked, punching Lily playfully.

"I hate you." Lily said, adding a fake laugh to the end of her words. The Marauders were chatting amongst themselves quietly, not listening, and Sirius occasionally looking over at me.

"Hey, Ethan, Logan, come on."

"You know what I want to talk about?"

"What?"

"Your crush on Emileigha. Both of you."

"I-I don't have a crush on her!"

"And I only said she was…cute!"

"Look, whether you thinks he's cute or you have a crush- I just want to tell you something. Em is a sharp girl. She only likes the guys that have good personalities. She likes them smart, and she likes the guys who're really nice and sweet. That's probably why she won't go out with me, actually. I ask her a lot, so I must be pretty annoying. And besides that, I just plain ask for a lot. It's like I want some kind of always-happy relationship…but, I know that I need to understand that there're bumps along the way in a relationship. If you guys ever, err…split up, and one of you get a chance with her, make sure you treat her good, okay? If I don't get to be with her, then I can only hope that she'll be with someone that'll be better than me- way better than me. I'm not good for her…" Sirius said, shoving his hands in his pockets and nodding. James had taken the bag, and I think Lily and I had forgotten about Alonso for the most part- either that, or we just didn't mind anymore. Hm.

Remus tried not to make eye contact with Sirius, and I could tell he felt awkward. It was always like that for him. Someday, if ever, I hope he won't be too shy to find a girlfriend…Lately, I've heard him say a thing or two about a girl in the library he talks to…

Then my mind went back to what Sirius had said. I would have 'aw'-ed out loud, but my 'boyfriend' here would get jealous. Weird.

Just when I was getting that warm fuzzy feeling in my chest, and as the butterflies multiplied, I just got really…happy. Even though Sirius and I were in the midst of this stupid fight thing, he still felt that way? And he wanted me to be with someone better than him…?

Like anybody exists.

"And Em- she's smart…she really, really likes to read. She likes to keep busy and be a part of those small, good-things in life, and she loves to help people out- whether she knows them or not. Emileigha is the bravest person I know- she'll go out of her own way to make sure her friends, family, or others are safe, and happy. I really like her laugh, and her smile. She has two kinds of laughs- one when she hears something funny, which sounds plain happy, and one that's kind of like a quiet giggle, for those romantic, quiet moments. And whenever she gets a compliment, she smiles at the ground…and she blushes…she's perfect in every way."

"Have you ever thought about who that compliment comes from, when she smiles?" I blurted out thoughtfully. Lily watched intently with the rest of the Marauders. Sirius thought for a second, and a smile started to form on his face, which had turned pink.

"Me…" he said happily.

"I'm sure she likes you. I mean, if you feel like that, there's no way she couldn't. Nobody takes notice of another person's laugh just because they think they're a good friend or something." I said, scratching the back of my head. I glanced at Lily, who raised her eyebrows and also had one of those 'oh-aw…' looks on her face. I poked at her with my elbow. "Look, we, err…we have to go. Like, right now. We don't want to stay out to late…because, well, you know- we have to get up really, really early tomorrow to leave. It was cool meeting you guys…and staying at Hogwarts for a few days…"

"Yeah…Bye, guys!" Lily said, catching onto my plan. After that, we ran to the door of the hallway passage and raced out of the Gryffindor Common Room, not hearing what the Marauders said after that. We stood at the bottom of a set of currently-moving stairs, trying to catch our breath.

"He's…totally…head over…heels…for you…" Lily breathed, her hands on her knees, bent over. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up…" I breathed quickly. "Let's just…go to…Slughorn…now." Lily nodded, and we took off up the stairs, which had stopped moving.

We finally made it to Slughorn's office, and just burst through the door.

"Professor Slughorn! You have to help us!" Lily cried. I nodded quickly.

"It's us- Lily Evans, and Emileigha Lupin!" I said quickly.

"We used that potion I made last week, and now we're stuck like this! We don't know what potion is the cure, or if it'll wear off or what! Just please, help us!" Lily basically screamed. By then, we were both practically on our knees, begging. Professor Slughorn nodded, almost wide eyed, and stood up from his desk. He walked over to an brown wooden cabinet with silver handles and quickly pulled it open. After searching though it for about two minutes or so, he pulled out a tray of different coloured potions. He sat them on his desk, and handed one of the test tubes a strange lavender potion as in to Lily. Lily, not caring what Professor Slughorn was about to say, popped the cork off the top- which made a loud pop as it flew to the ground- of the tube and took a long drink, draining half of it down. She passed it to me, then. Before I took a drink, I prayed that everything would work out, and I finally finished the tube. After swallowing, I thought I was going to puke. The potion tasted like Pepto-Bismol and…vanilla cake? Yuck! Chocolate over Vanilla any day, for me, please. Chocolate will always be over powering, no matter what.

I opened my eyes and Lily and I were back to our normal selves. I pulled the beanie off of my head and threw it at Lily. She laughed happily and dropped it to the ground, not really caring. We both hugged each other and jumped up and down excitedly.

**I'm not a boy anymore! And I'm not dating Lily! **

Professor Slughorn cleared his throat, tipping back and forth on his heels. We slowly turned to look at him, even though we were directing our vision to our shoes (which were abck to normal, too, of course!) nervously. Oh no…We are soo in trouble, aren't we? Crap! Just when I thought it was all tied to me…more trouble. Lily scratched the back of her head, and I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"I suggest you do not test anymore potions, randomly…" Professor Slughorn said, pushing the rim of his glasses up on his nose.

"I don't know…Tradition is tradition, you know?" Lily said. Well, she took the words right out of my mouth! Or maybe she's a physic- I mean, I was totally just thinking the exact same thing…

"I don't know…Boy Adventures suck!"

A/N- Thanks for reading! Review, Favourite, love! (:


	20. Admit It!

A/N- Here's the big two zero! Thanks for sticking so far! Don't leave too soon, because there's more to come! (: Lots and lots of love your way, dearest! Thanks again!

-_**siriuslybritish**_

Chapter Twenty-

I woke up early that next Sunday, at like six in the morning. Man, being a boy was tiring- and it's been a while since then already! I rolled out of bed, seeing that I definitely could not go to sleep. Plus, I really had to pee. Mentally groaning, I got out my bath robe, a pair of beige panties and matching bra, and made my way to the bathroom.

If I hadn't dropped a shampoo bottle in the shower, I would have fallen asleep. There's something about warm water that makes me sleepy, I guess.

I got out and looked around in my closet. It was freezing cold today, just like the rest of winter had been. I got a pair of jeans with a floral pattern on them (beige flowers, green leaves), a fitted long sleeved beige shirt, mix match argyle socks and a pair of brown Clark Booties. Before I left the dorm, I grabbed my green scarf and beige pea coat, _then _headed out the door.

At first, I felt hungry…and then I realized that I still felt like puking from those chips and all that chocolate syrup, plus a cupcake. Oh lord… I decided to swing on outside and get some fresh air. The snow had started to melt, so there was only a little bit in very few places, except for places like meeting trees and gutters. As soon as I set foot outside, I looked over to see Sirius, sitting under a tree, one knee up and his elbow on it, with his head in his hand. He wore a grey coat and denim jeans, from as far as I could see. I won't lie, the guys in this school have some styling sense. Right? Look at Sirius himself for example; or Lockhart…Daniel…Brandon…

I sighed and knew what I should do. This was my chance to go to Sirius, and see if he would talk to me. I quietly walked over to him; approaching him from the other side of the tree (he was facing the black lake), I sat down beside him and hugged my knees close to my chest. Sirius wouldn't look at me, but he knew I was there. Actually, he kept his head in his hands and…sniffled? Is he…crying?

"Hi…" I said quietly and softly. Sirius didn't move at first, but after a few minutes he sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and leaned back against the tree. His eyes were kind of red and they were definitely watery. There was a tear slowly- very, very slowly- gliding down his cheek. His eyes went dull and he stared out at the lake.

"Hey." He whispered, as another tear came out and slid down his cheek, passing the other one. I looked down at the ground before he could realize that I was watching him. It surprised me, seeing him cry. It's weird, but I never pictured Sirius crying. Bloody hell, I hardly even knew he could cry! What I do know is that seeing Sirius Orion Black with tears coming out of those grey eyes almost made me cry too. In fact…I felt myself start to tear up and get a huge guilty feeling in the back of my throat, in my stomach too. Or, maybe that was my heart. I don't know.

"Sirius…I'm sorry…Please, please don't be mad. I didn't want to hurt you or your feelings…you know that, right?" I said slowly, turning to face him, and changing position so I was sitting on my knees comfortably. Sirius closed his eyes and the occasional tear or two kept coming out.

"I…I know you have a hard time with your family like that…but I only told you because I didn't want anything to come between us…you know? Because…because you mean too much to me to lose. I lost my mum, and I almost lost Remus. I lost my dad for a little while too, and my whole little family just tore apart in my fingers. If I lose you as my best friend …" I whispered, as a tear strolled on down my cheek. Then a few more came after that, so I put my head in my hands. I heard Sirius move closer to me. "Then that's just one too many. I don't like to lose pe-"

Sirius pulled me into a hug, where my face was snuggled into his neck. He held me tightly- I almost couldn't breathe- and rubbed my back soothingly.

"Em…I'm s-so sorry. Don't apologize, because you didn't do anything. I know how you are- you're a sweet, sweet girl…you just didn't want anything to ruin our friendship. If anyone ruined it, it was me. I'm such a prick, a bugger! I'm so sorry I yelled at you, screamed…everything. I shouldn't have done that- and I just…I just don't know why I did all that. I was jealous. Definitely jealous of Regulus. Regulus- he comes on more…soft. Me, I seem to be an arrogant arse. I'm so sorry, Emileigha. I hope you can forgive me, but I really do…do understand if you don't. I'm horrible. And there's something I didn't tell you- what I should have told you before anything else that happened that day…." Sirius cried into my hair, using a whisper. He took a sharp breath in and sighed afterwards, then pulled away a bit so he could whisper into my ear. "They came, Em…my parents…They-they came to Hogwarts…" he choked, tears still coming out. My chest got tight as I sat there and hugged Sirius as tight as I could. I closed my eyes, then opened them again after a few seconds. Of course I would forgive him…I miss him; I miss his smirk and his laugh too…his flirting…his friendship. He's always been a good friend to me, even if he likes to flirt with me. He doesn't let his crush get in the way of friendship, though- never. Sometimes, I feel like I…like I like him a lot. Maybe this is more than 'like'… But my mind skipped back to what Sirius had just said. His parents were here. What could they do to him, while he's here at Hogwarts? It has to be bad, whatever it may be…

"What did th-they say?" I asked quietly, now rubbing his back slowly. He sighed and he pulled away, staring into my greenish grey eyes with his dull, stormy grey ones, but didn't answer for a second. He just looked at me, not moving his eyes at all. I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip. "…What did they say, Sirius?" Sirius put my hands in my own lap and shook his head worriedly.

"Apparently, my name was just burned off the family tree. I'm not classified as a Black that belongs to the House of Black." Sirius said sternly, running a hand through his hair.

"Sirius…I'm-"

"Don't say you're sorry, Em…I figured I had it coming. I'm not the perfect kid, if you've noticed. I'm prat pretty often too. It's okay. But look, I was just already on edge. It's all my fault- I didn't tell you about any of this…I went crazy over a simple one-liner from Regulus to you…I yelled and screamed and all that crap. For that, I'm sorry. I say I'm sorry, like I've never meant it before. This is way too much to ask, I know, but…can you ever forgive me?"

"Sirius, of course I can. I missed you so much. And I'm so sorry about what all has happened. But…it will only get worse if we keep feeling bad about it and dwelling on it. Apology far more than accepted. Now…wh-what are you going to do?" I said, leaning back beside him on the tree.

"I haven't told James, Remus or Peter- or anyone but you- about this thing, so I'm not really sure. I've spent every summer since second year with James, and maybe I'll just do that again or something. Me and the rest of the guys- except Remus- stay here for holidays and all that stuff, so that's covered."

"…What about when school's over for good? After our last year?"

"I'll…get a flat in the magical part of London."

"That'll put down so much stress on you though. I mean, you'll have to get a job right away- and it'll have to be something worth-while and nice, too. Any idea on what you want to be?"

"Well, I'd like to be an Auror. I-I get O's in Defense Against the Dark Arts- so maybe I'm cut out for it. And you know how problems are nowadays…they need more Aurors who are willing enough to go against the… Death Eaters."

"And that'll take some college preparation…"

"I know. I'll have to do it, though- it's my only option. Besides…it-it can't be that bad. It's all for the best, right? Thank the lord we have options to start college prep…"

"You know, we get those letters this summer. The ones from the colleges, who our teachers have recommended us to, that are for the students who want to work through their courses in…So you're going to do it?"

"Yeah…I am. At least I'll be done by the end of Hogwarts. Then I'll have everything- almost everything, I mean- ready."

"It's just so hard to believe that Hogwarts is almost over. I've had so many good memories here; it'll be so hard to say goodbye."

"Yeah…Me too."

"You know, this is where my Mum met my Dad. Right over there, the other side of the lake."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She was walking with her friends from Hogsmede, and my Dad passed, but he stopped and smiled to be friendly, but...he actually had a crush on her… Love at first sight, I guess…Oh, sorry…That was off track. Back to college prep."

"No, no- that's sweet, Em. I don't mind at all. Do you know what's cool about that?"

"What?"

"We met right here, across from where your parents met."

"Yeah…"

"Do you remember how we met?"

"Of course I do."

_It was my first year at Hogwarts, and I had already made some friends. I'd been super nervous about not knowing anyone but Remus and Lily and Sev. Here I was walking down to the black lake with a few library books, when I ran into somebody. I immediately tipped backwards, but someone grabbed my wrists before I went down on my butt. It was a boy with wavy black hair and bangs that fell over his stormy grey eyes. His cheeks were dark red, and I felt mine go pink as I straightened myself and my ruffled blue skirt. He quickly bent down and picked up my books that he'd knocked out of my hands and gently handed them to me, keeping his head slightly down. Of course, I could still see his face, because he was about an inch or two taller than me._

"_Sorry…I-I was in a hurry…"he said nervously, scratching the back of his head. He held his hand out for me to shake it. I took it, embarrassed, and gently shook it. He had a tight, strong grip. "I'm Sirius Black."_

"_Oh, it's okay. No damage done. Emileigha." I said nicely, letting out a small and nervous laugh after. _

"_Hey, you're Remus Lupin's sister, aren't you?" he asked, snapping and pointing at me._

"_Yeah," I smiled, "why?"_

"_Me and him are pretty good friends- me and my mate James have just really taken a liking to him. Cool guy- he probably memorized every book here by now, too." Sirius said brightly._

"_Yeah, he's crazy smart. Our family really loves to read." I said, motioning to my books._

"_Well then, that sounds like one nice family. I s'pose I'll see you around….Em." he grinned and winked, then walked off like he had nothing to do, back to the castle. I thought he was in a hurry, but then I realized that that was one big set-up that I totally fell for. I laughed to myself. _

_After that day, I had a huge crush on Sirius Black._

"Good times, right?" Sirius said, snapping me out of my memories. I smiled to myself and to him and ran a hand through my hair.

"Yeah…really good times. I miss being ten sometimes- then I could start Hogwarts all over again. It's not that I have anything I want to redo, but Hogwarts has been so…amazing. It's really weird to think that five years ago, that's how old I was, too…" I nodded interestingly, a total thinking-face on.

"I know…We've all come a long way. I'm actually kind of excited to see what we make out of ourselves, someday." Sirius said thoughtfully, slumping his arm over my shoulders. I leaned into him, my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah! You'll be an Auror, Lily will be a mummy and a baker, James will be an Auror with you, Peter will be a bar tender, and Remus…Remus will be a librarian who goes home to lots and lots of cats." I explained seriously. Sirius laughed at my future variation and patted my shoulder.

"A lonely cat man?" he asked surely.

"It's quite possible." I said honestly. "But don't tell him I said that." I laughed/

"I can picture that. And don't worry, I won't tell on you." He replied, nodding slowly, pulling me closer into him. "But anyways… I really am sorry. I feel horrible about that mess! I just don't even know wh-"

I cut Sirius off by putting my finger to his lips. He stopped everything he was doing and then looked down at me with those gorgeous grey eyes.

"You don't have to apologize, Sirius. It's all okay. Alright?" I smiled up at him expectantly. He looked at me for a second, and then took my hand.

"You're so sweet, Em; so sweet." He said, kissing my hand and then hugging me. He pulled off and leaned against the tree. "Hey, there's room for you too. Come." He said, eyes half open, motioning from me to him. I laughed and leaned back on him. "I'm tired. Are you?"

"Yeah…a nap would be pretty nice right now." I yawned, rubbing my eyes.

"Take one, then." He smiled, getting situated very slowly, so he wouldn't move me.

"On you?" I asked unsurely.

"Yeah, sure- I don't mind. You're cute when your asleep…" he said, looking down. I felt my cheeks heat up, finally.

"Oh, so you watch me when I sleep? Nice." I nodded, smirking. Sirius laughed.

"No, I'm not a stalker! Remember that day when, you know, you took a nap in _my _bed? I woke up a little bit before you…" Sirius explained.

"Ah. So you did watch me while I slept." I pointed out, poking his nose.

"No! You make it sound weird!" Sirius cried, poking me in between both of my eyes.

"Okay, okay- sorry, I know." I said, my head on Sirius' chest. He laughed and started stroking my hair.

"I forgive you, love. Of course I do." Sirius said goofily. "But…you promise you forgive me?"

"I promise." I said patting his arm. He sighed and rubbed my back for a second. I closed my eyes sleepily, drifting on and off.

"Life is hard, you know?...There's not a day without drama or something bad. Not a day without something you hate, not a day without something you…like. Not a day without that special person you're head over heels for." Sirius said thoughtfully, pausing afterwards. Everything was quiet for a moment.

"You're right- that's true." I smiled. That's when I could hear Sirius' heart beat speed up slowly. After all, my head was right there, where his heart was. Coincidence? Perhaps. Strange, strange luck that's only mine? Definitely.

"I'm lucky to have all my friends in my classes, but…Well, I'm especially glad to have you in them. Sometimes I wonder what I would do without you, Em, because I don't really know if I could make it on my own without some guidance. I know there's a lot of things just wrong with me, but…but hope that doesn't make you like me any less. Actually, I know it wouldn't. You're such a good person. You have to be brave to go near cracked ice for someone. You have to have a big heart to take care of your friends, but be able to joke around with them any time you want. You have too many good qualities to count. But, I'll be cheesy and tell you a few things I love about you. Your sweet- you always forgive me even though I'm a jerk, and you'd do that for anyone else too. Your hilarious, with lots of wittiness. I love that you like chocolate so much, too. It's bloody adorable, no questions asked. And…and…Well, everything! I love each and everything about you, Emileigha. Every single thing. And if I ever lost you, I don't know what I'd do. I hate it when your sad, because, well, I care about you a lot. It makes me kind of sad when you're sad, too. When you're angry, I feel like I need to make everything better. When you're happy, I'm as happy as I could be. Something else I like about you- your laugh. You have the cutest laugh ever. And your smile. Everyone thinks it's cute. And your cute yourself. You're just amazing, no doubt about it." Sirius said slowly and happily, getting more and more comfortable. I smiled sweetly, even though he couldn't tell.

"You're so sweet to me…" is said quietly, yawning. I would have said more, but I'd probably fall asleep any minute now. Funny how your mind can work pretty good while you're so tired. Anyways…

Sirius really thought about all that stuff? About me? He makes it sound too good to be true. Then again, I think it really is. When your crush tells you things like that, life just can't get any better at that moment. There's something about us that just makes all the upsetting seriousness fade away, and we can be as goofy as possible in a snap. That's just one thing I love, though. I love that Sirius can make me smile. I love that he can make me laugh until I'm close to peeing myself. I'm glad to a have a supportive guy friend. I'm glad to have my crush, who likes me back, as my best friend. I'm glad to have Sirius in my life!

And he calls me amazing? Cute? Funny? Sweet? I'm not that good, I can't be- but as long as Sirius is happy, then I'm happy too. The same goes for my friends.

Sirius kept stroking my hair, his arm around me. Could it get any better? Forget what Remus thinks- this is too perfect for anything to ruin it. Nothing could ruin this. It was just like all my troubles, may the lord know I have many, just floated up and away. I got that warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest, and lots and lots of butterflies. My face was likely red…unless it can't get read, since I'm half asleep here, but you get the point. I was just starting to fall asleep when Sirius leaned down to whisper something to me, grabbing and then holding my hand tightly.

"Emileigha Jayne, I…I'm in love with you…"

A/N- Review, and tell me what you think! What do you like about this chapter? What do you not liek about this chapter? (: Favourite! Love! Thanks!


	21. Bet of Numbers!

A/N- Hi guys! Thanks for reading, again! Sorry if you don't like this chapter- I was kind of in a rush. Over all, I think it's alright. Don't forget to review!

I mean, who doesn't just LOVE reviews?

xoxo,

_**siriuslybritish**_

Chapter 21-

_I was outside, at home, in the forest. I was just lying in the grass, looking up at the clouds, pretty bored. After another five minutes of silence and cloud-staring, I fell asleep. All I could hear was the wind making the leaves on all the trees around me rustle and occasionally some birds chirping. _

_So I slept, and slept, and slept for like an hour or two…and then I heard footsteps. Not running, just walking. I couldn't open my eyes, even though someone could even be coming to kidnap me for all I know. I stirred and almost woke up, but then I froze when someone said something to me._

"_What?" I yawned, my eyes still closed. The person said something again, but I still couldn't understand. "What?" I asked sleepily, trying to shoo the person away._

"_I love you!" the person said. I immediately knew this was Sirius' voice._

"Despierta, mi bella durmiente!" a 'Spanish accent' yelled loudly. I shot up in bed and looked around, panicked. At first, I had no idea where I was. The voice sounded strangely familiar to Alonso's…but why would he be in here? I turned every which way, looking around for him, but I caught no sign.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep, no?" Alright, I'm positive it's Alonso. But…

Aw, man! I totally forgot! When Lily and I were still boys- oh, that brings back strange memories- The marauders were going to put his portrait in… our room.

…And then I remembered that I don't share a room with Lily, I wasn't in her room, and the guys were going to put it in there before…

"WHY ARE YOU IN HERE?!" I cried, still not knowing where he was. I growled angrily, hearing Alonso chuckle. His laugh even sounded Spanish.

"Your friends put me in here! Don't pretend you do not like it, bella!" Alonso said.

"Oh, bloody hell. Where are you?!" I asked upsettingly. Alonso chuckled again.

"They told me not to tell. You know, keeping a secret? Just to be in this room with you, bonita, it is amazing. Maybe you will learn to like me, no?" Alonso asked happily.

"Like you?! No, I'm sorry- I cannot do that. I insist you tell me where you are before I find you and through you out the window. This is a floor down from the top of the tower. I'll climb up there." I threatened.

"What? Mi bella, you wouldn't!" Alonso cried. I growled again, except louder than before.

"Oh, but I would! And stop calling me beautiful, and beauty, and yours!" I hissed.

"Oh, you know some Spanish? How nice! Your name though, it is wonderful, you see? Bella! Bonita! Mi bella, mi bonita!" Alonso stalled loudly. Thank Godric Jenna wasn't here.

"AGH! Tell me where you are, NOW!" I screamed, burying my face into a pillow.

"No, bella. I cannot." Alonso said solemnly.

"How am I supposed to get dressed or take a shower and all that stuff?" I asked.

"Oh dear…I didn't think of that. Fine, bonita, I will tell you. I am over here, beside your vanity." Alonso admitted calmly. I looked over to see…nothing but a blue wall, like normal.

"Hey, don't lie to me!" I said.

"Your friends put a spell on me, you see. You cannot see me, but the tall one can."

"James?" I asked. Oh, what I will do to him…and the Marauders…Sirius….Grr….

"I thought it was Jase, bella, but they're your friends, so I suppose so." I jumped off the bed and felt around for the edges of Alonso's portrait. I must've tickled when I pulled him off the wall, because, suddenly, everyone in Japan could hear his cackle. I started to carry him to my bed.

"Bella, your smile is like a ray of sunshine cast my way, even when it is not. Your skin is like that of porcelain and your eyes are like silver stone. Your hair is like amber, roasted over a warm fire. You set my heart-" He carried on.

"Uh-huh…" I said, getting down on my knees. I put him flat on the floor.

"Wait, what are you doing, bella?" He asked, before I slid him under my bed. It must be dark and cold and just plain scary under there.

"Nothing." I said coolly.

Me, Sirius, Lily, and James were walking around in Hogsmede. Lily and James invited Sirius and I…well, actually, they begged us. Being the fabulous people we truly are (wink, wink), we went, as good friends also would. The funny thing is, Lily and James are sort of lost in each other today. All I've heard all morning is 'aw, you're so sweet' and 'you are so cute when you smile like that'.

It's so annoying… It's… slowly… killing… me.

Luckily, I had Sirius to keep me company. He sure was doing a good job. But…he's in a flirty mood today. He kept trying to grab my hand and hold it when he put his arm around me, and I would just kinda playfully shove him off. He did it for the sixth time about two minutes after his second attempt.

"Oh come on…" he whined, crossing his arms and pouting. I shook my head.

"No." I said, poking his cheek. He caught my hand and kissed it, then winked at me. I felt my cheeks tint pink.

"You know you want me to hold your hand." Sirius said, tapping my chin after I pulled my hand away from him.

"I know that I don't." I said, nudging him in the side. He laughed.

"I know that you do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do!"

"Don't."

"DO!"

"Don't."

"Agh! Okay, you don't. Fine, fine." Sirius finally breathed, shoving his hands in his pockets. I laughed, and he just looked around, randomly starting to whistle 'Moonlight Sonata'. It was awkward for a few minutes, and Lily and James were in front of us, tangled up in each other's arms. I raised my eyebrows, and then looked up at Sirius. After a few minutes, he realized I was staring at him. He looked down at me curiously.

"What?" he asked unsurely. I smiled.

"Nothing…" I said, looking down again, except further down…like to my feet. My cheeks turned pink at what I was about to do.

"Well, it has to be something. Did I do something?" he asked curiously. I shook my head no.

Finally, I grabbed his hand and intertwined my fingers with his. He smiled at me, then looked a tour hands for a second.

"I wish it was like this every day." He said, getting a little closer to me. He started swinging our hands with every step we took.

"You mean hopelessly following an insane couple in the streets of Hogsmede, every day? If we were to stop at HoneyDukes…then I'd vote for that too." I winked. Sirius chuckled.

"I mean you and me holding hands." He said. I nodded playfully and he sighed thoughtfully. "What about you, Em?"

"…I think everyone wants someone to hold hands with. And eventually, they'll find someone…" I smiled brightly, looking over at a new store, full of shoes. Sirius smiled too.

"I love how you look at things." Sirius said. Lily had stopped ahead and was looking over at the store.

"Hey! Hey!" Lily exclaimed, rushing over to me, James' hand in one of hers. "We have to go in there. It's new." She said happily. Shopping? On a day like this? I'm so in!

I glanced over at Sirius, who grinned over at James.

"Yeah, Prongs. We could find you some high heels." He said. James punched his shoulder, and Sirius did it back. Lily snorted and I laughed.

"Will you guys be talking about this store all day if we don't go?" James sighed. Sirius chuckled and looked down at me.

"Yes." I said flatly, watching James, then looking up to smile at Sirius.

"Then let's go get some shoes." James sighed.

"James?" I asked before we walked across the cobblestone street.

"What?" he asked.

"How can you not like shopping?" I asked.

"I'm a man." James nodded sternly.

"Uh-huh…" I heard Sirius say under his breath. I laughed.

"But, _I mean, _for you." I said.

"Shopping for me? It's a no, still." James said, nodding. I shook my head.

"Then who shops for you? Your mum?" Lily asked curiously. Sirius punched James in the arm lightly, and James punched back.

"Yup." He said, almost with pride. Mummy's boy, mummy's boy! Lily snorted and Sirius laughed.

"Really?" I asked in a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' sort of tone.

"Dude, seriously?" Sirius chuckled. Lily glanced at James from the corner of her eye and looked to me, trying not to laugh and embarrass James. I wonder if Lily knows that someday, when they get married (which they totally will, because they were made for each other) , it will be her job to shop for James. Dun, dun, dun…

"Look, I'm not metrosexual. I suck at fashion, big time." James explained exasperatedly. I like metrosexual guys…

"I don't." Sirius concluded to the three of us. I smiled.

"And that's why your metrosexual." Lily said in a teacher-like tone.

"Is that a good thing?" Sirius asked unsurely. He made it sound like he was asking all of us, but he was turned to me and looking at me. I nodded.

"Yes!" I said happily, laughing.

"Good." Sirius sighed in relief, his cheeks slightly pink.

"Do you like scarves?" Lily asked curiously.

"Why?" Sirius asked in the same tone.

"…I just want to know." Lily stammered abruptly after a minute.

"Maybe a little…" Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"What colours?" James sneered unhappily. Lily shook her head and flicked James' shoulder playfully.

"Why?" Sirius asked again, sounding somewhat surprised. I looked at James carefully.

"I just want to know!" James cried, throwing his hands up, but smiling goofily.

"Gryffindor colours- crimson and gold. Maybe grey and black. That's about all that looks good on me, really." Sirius explained seriously.

"Ah. Team spirit. Wait until everyone on the team hears about our metrosexual player." James teased, giving Sirius a thumbs up. Sirius' eyes got wide and he shook his head quickly.

"Hey, no! Let's just keep this between the four of us! Deal?" Sirius said quickly, scratching the back of his head.

"Okay, okay. Chill out." James said.

"Yeah, it's a deal, darling." I said warmly. Sirius turned to me again.

"Do you promise, Em?" He asked carefully, ruffling my hair a bit.

"Yeah…but I think you should tell…Peter. Peter and Remus." I said. Peter would spread the word…and then the silent and…err…completely nonexistent plan between James and I would be a total success. I'll just say that it was derived from eye contact and psychic abilities.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because…because it's cute." I said. It's true. But it'd be pretty funny for _everyone_ to know.

"Peter might think it's cute, I agree. But he'd tell every-" James was cut off by Sirius, who snapped all his attention- every last bit- to me.

"It's cute?" he asked, smirking.

"Uh-huh. Now you can carry all my bags when I go shopping, too, if you like going. We could go all the time." I said coolly.

"Okay! I'll do all of that, if you go on a date with me." Sirius challenged. I sighed and looked at him.

"No..." I said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because..." I replied.

"Because why?" he asked, again.

"Because, because..." I whined.

"GAH. Please?" he whined agitatedly.

"No, sorry..." I said, shrugging.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because..." I said.

"Why?" he asked yet again, the umpteenth time in less than two seconds.

"OKAY, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Lily screamed, irritated with the both of us.

"Why can't you two just go out already?" James asked.

"Yeah! I mean, look at us! We're so happy together!" Lily explained, motioning to James and herself, who were holding hands again.

"Exactly!" James said.

"You wanna see some action?" Sirius asked.

"…Yeah!" Lily and James said unsurely at first, but went with it.

"Yeah!" I said, playing along with everyone.

"Okay, then I'd like to propose a bet to all of you." Sirius stated smartly.

"Go on…" James urged with Lily. I watched closely, interested.

"Okay, whoever gets the most numbers gets….uh…to do anything they want, with any of us or all of us- whichever. You could walk someone on a leash for all I care." Sirius said, shrugging. Everyone one nodded.

"What does that have to do with dating?" Lily asked, trailing off. Sirius scoffed playfully.

"Well, the main topic is all about love, right?" he reasoned.

"Oh…well I guess that counts…So I guess we can meet at the Three Broomsticks at… three o'clock." Lily nodded blankly.

"Can we go shopping first? Please! I see a pair of killer heels, guys! Please!" I begged, tugging on Sirius' hand and motioning to the window Ad the heels were in. Of course, I'm too small to make him budge. Sirius and James tower over me, now, if I haven't mentioned it. I'm pretty sure they're both six feet by now. Me? I'm still the same height. Lily? Taller. I bet she's 5'7'' now. Ugh.

Sirius laughed and put his hand on my head, looking down at me with a smile.

"You're so small…" he said, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Hey!" I whined.

"It's cute, though, Em!" he said, tapping my chin and winking.

"You wouldn't think it was cute if you couldn't reach the light switch in your room!" I cried.

"Aww…." He said, chuckling.

Sirius laughed and pulled me against his chest. I tried to get away, but it was like nothing compared to his strength and his grip. I let out a fake scream, not high pitched or anything, and James and Lily laughed. Sirius let go and put his hands up, and I playfully punched him in the stomach. He pretended to be hurt and clutched his stomach.

"Ouch...! Oh, bloody hell…" he groaned painfully. I smirk appeared on his face after and I laughed. We turned to say something to James and Lily, but the only thing we saw was a quick flash of fiery red hair going down the street, and then it was gone.

"Well, that sure was nice of them. Let's go shopping, love." Sirius beckoned, holding the door open for me to the shoe shop, shaking his head in the process.

"Whoa…" I gasped. This was a building that must've been enchanted, since it was HUGE on the inside. Like, crazy huge. There were shoes from floor to ceiling, and that was at least…oh, I don't know! 30 feet? Maybe? Sirius was pretty amazed as well.

"This. Is. Fabulous." I said seriously.

"You bet. We might need a map to find those heels." Sirius said, slinging his arm over my shoulder. "Let's go find those killer heels, then, love." Sirius said to me, patting my shoulder. After a while of walking around, we finally made it to the female side of the store. First there was a toddler section, then something that seemed like 6 years to 10 years. Finally, the rest were Women's and Teen's.

But, of course, the heels were nowhere to be seen- none of them. Crap. The ones I saw in the ad…they're going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

"Holy crap. Where in the world are they?" Sirius huffed, stopping. We were in the middle of the Female section, where five lines sort of forked together. Some shoe store this is!

"Can I help you?" a deep voice said, practically sounding like a popular girl, but more nice than evil. We turned around to see a guy, about an inch or two taller than me, standing in front of us, chewing some gum. He blew a bubble and I swear you could hear the pop of it from the Three Broomsticks. He wore pink sneakers and a black sweatshirt that said '_Poison Frogs_' (a popular band right now) on it, and a black… skirt? Cross dressing. There was a name tag on his sweatshirt: _Richard_.

"Uh…Oh, yeah. We can't find the heels." Sirius replied slowly. I nodded. Richard put his hand on his hip.

"Oh, okay. And who might we be shopping for, today?" Richard asked, taking my wrist and guiding Sirius and I through all kinds of people. Sirius nodded his head to me and Richard nodded. We got lots of dirty looks when we were forced to shove by people, and we got some 'wow-that's-weird' glances…but I'm pretty sure those weren't just for Sirius and I.

Finally, we came to the heels.

"So, I don't know what you're looking for exactly, but, like, we have a huge variety of heels out. High heels, or wedges, whatever you want." Richard explained. Sirius nodded.

"Alright, thanks a lot." He said.

"No problem. Ring if you need me again." With that said, Richard walked away. I glanced over to my left and jumped to the spot.

Hallelujah! My heels!

"Oh. My. Gosh. Best adventure ever!" I said, hugging myself…mentally. Hey, I don't want to look weird in a shoe store, you know? Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Worst adventure ever! Why does it take so long to find shoes? I mean, he drug us around for quite a while didn't he?" Sirius explained, sticking his tongue out afterwards I did the same to him while searching for my size in these fabulous, classic black heels, with one blue the strap, the rest black. Gorgeous!

That's when I realized that I couldn't reach them. I looked to Sirius, pouting. He looked at me expectantly, a smirk on his face.

"What size?" he asked. I playfully punched him in the arm and he laughed.

"Five." I said. He reached up and grabbed the first one on the top. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

"Your small." He concluded, patting my head.

"I'm aware." I nodded, winking. He grinned and looked at his watch.

"Crap! We have to meet James and Lily in ten minutes." He sighed.

"Alright, that's okay. They won't care if we're a tad bit late. Let's go." I said. We headed to the register. I paid, and Sirius held the door for me on the way out. We were walking down the street, holding hands again. Sirius was swinging our hands back and forth as we went, and it was silent for a bit.

"You know, we never got any numbers..." Sirius sighed.

"I know. But that's okay- I don't want some random person's number." I said. Sirius looked at me and smiled. "What?" I asked, feeling my cheeks get warm. He wrapped one arm around me and kept the same smile on.

"Me either. I already get to talk to the girl I like every day, so I don't need anyone's number. In fact, she's actually holding my hand right now." He beamed. I smiled. "And besides, I don't know how to use a phone anyways." He joked.

"Do you want my number? You'll win the bet." I offered.

"No- I'm already doing what I would want to do."

A/N- Thanks for reading! Rate, Review, Take My Poll, Love! (:


	22. Bet Punishments!

A/N- Thanks to **xXallegedangelXx** for such a hilarious idea! I hope you love this chapter as much as I do! (: Enjoy!

Chapter 22-

I was laughing so hard, I could have peed myself at any given moment. Thank Godric I didn't, though.

It's hard- seriously, it's really, really, really hard- to believe it, but Lily one our little bet of numbers. I was pretty surprised. Lily got seven numbers, James got three, and Sirius and I got…zero. Sadly. I mean, if we really tried to get some, it would have been a super close race…Maybe twenty numbers, or more…

But, of course, I'd win. Duh.

But anyway, the hilarious part about Lily winning the bet was her choice of what to do with the losing people. Luckily, I wasn't included- just James and Sirius…who had to dress like girls and walk around Hogsmede together. Lily and I would be following them to make sure they followed the rules, of course. We made sure they looked crazy, for good luck.

Currently, James was wearing an orange summer-dress, even though it's not fall, with a black belt and a pair of green heels Lily had magically made bigger. He had a cheap fake-diamond bangle on and a wooden brown-bead necklace on his left wrist. The dress really showed off his legs…and let's face it, guys have hairy legs-it's natural. Lily was in favour of having both James and Sirius shave them, but…that might've been too far.

Sirius refused to wear a dress, so we put him in pink skinny jeans and a pink sweater that had 'Rainbow Brite' on it. Instead of any jewelry, he wore a tiara. Sirius nearly cried over having to wear girl shoes, so we let him wear the most girlish shoes she owned: Sperrys. Sure, Sperrys and the colour pink are only stereotypes of being girly, but we're going by what James whines and complains about.

"Bloody hell, James, you're a boy! Act like one!" Sirius groaned, leaning back in his seat in the carriage the four of us were in.

"I'm a _man_ for your bloody instance!" James retorted, rolling his eyes.

"No you're not! You let Lily put a dress on you." Sirius sneered, sitting up quickly. Lily and I watched intently.

"I'm more of a man than you are! And you let Emileigha put a Rainbow freaking Brite shirt- no, a _sweater_- on you!" James argued again. Sirius huffed.

"Hey! You…you prat! You came close to shaving your legs, James!" Sirius pointed out. It's true.

"You would have if I had! You're the one who wanted to wear pink!" James said.

"I'll have you know that I look good in pink! At least I have a sense of fashion- or some sense in all, in that matter!" Sirius said, narrowing his eyes. James let out a fake laugh that just sounded…mean.

"Oh really? I guess you think you look pretty swell in that tiara, too?" James scoffed.

"Better than you would!" Sirius said, patting James' head roughly, yet reassuringly.

"Whatever!" James mumbled.

"No, it's true and you know it, James." Sirius said flatly, hearing what James had mumbled.

"Let me try it on, then! I'll show you!" James started back up, leaning up again.

"No!" Sirius said, pushing James; hand down when he reached for it.

"What? Afraid to get it scratched, princess?" James laughed mockingly.

"Who're calling princess? GO LOOK IN A FREAKING MIRROR IF YOU WANT TO SEE ONE SO BAD!" Sirius yelled finally, slapping a hand over James' mouth before he could say anything else and start up an even bigger argument. Simultaneously, their eyes slowly moved to us. I had my hand over my mouth, coming close to peeing myself again.

"You guys are both pretty, alright?" Lily said, wiping her watering eyes. I shook my head and smiled, closing my eyes.

"How can _this_ be so funny to you two?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed at us.

"I dunno, it just is." Lily shrugged. I nodded.

"I feel weirder than that one time when James got pants-ed by his great aunt." Sirius said blankly. We all looked at him awkwardly.

"That never happened, Sirius." James growled.

"What?" Sirius asked, sounding surprised.

"You heard me. That never happened." James said.

"Really?" Sirius asked again. James sighed.

"Yes." He said through clenched teeth.

"No more fire whiskey before bed for me, then. I was wondering why I kept having so many odd memories…guess they were just dreams…" Sirius said, shaking his head.

"What?" James asked, surprised.

"Nothing, nothing…" Sirius said. He started whistle and looked out the window, but we were already in Hogsmede by then. Neither of them got out of the carriage.

"Guys, come on." I said, motioning for them to follow. They stared at Lily and I for a minute and looked at each other, then to me.

"Why don't you have to do anything?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's not fair!" James said. I tried to shush them before Lily got any ideas.

"Don't worry, she does." But…she already had one, I guess.

"No thanks, I'm good." I said. Lily shook her head and the guys ignored me.

"What is it?" They asked eagerly.

"It's a surprise." Lily said, winking.

"Is it as bad as ours?" James questioned curiously.

"I can't really answer that question- it depends on what Emi thinks." Lily smiled evilly. I gulped.

"But I don't wanna!" I cried, puppy pouting. James and Sirius looked relieved.

Godric, I just can't take them seriously in those outfits…

We talked for a while, walking around Hogsmede, but Lily and I kept a safe distance away from James and Sirius….Okay, so Lily and I talked for a while. I kept asking about my end of the bet, but she wouldn't even give me a hint as to what it was. After a bit, we caught up with James and Sirius. Lily was the first to speak.

"Okay, me and Emi are gonna head over to the other side of Hogsmede. Meet us back at…uh…that new shoe store at…oh, say about two." Lily suggested, shrugging and looking at her pink watch. I frowned.

"Crap." I sighed.

"Yeah…" Lily sighed in the same tone as me, smiling deviously.

"Okay…Lily, don't hurt her." Sirius said, patting my head.

"I…won't. Bye James." Lily smiled, kissing James' cheek. James blushed and smiled at Lily.

"Bye. I love you." He said, kissing her cheek. Lily's smile got even bigger. Aw….

"Love you too." Lily replied, tapping his chin.

"Bye Sirius!" I waved. Sirius pretended to cry dramatically and I wiped away a fake tear.

"When will I see you again?" he sobbed, hugging me. I patted his back.

"Two hours or so, I suppose." I said sadly.

"Alright. Bye, love." Sirius waved. He and James both walked off down the street. Lily turned to me.

"Come on, follow me." She said.

"Okay…I'm scared…" I whimpered, following Lily. We took a lot of twists and turns to get to the other side of Hogsmede, which turned out to be pretty creepy looking.

I actually think it was a little bit darker over here than the other side of town…

Lily walked me- or dragged me, really- to the front of a clean-looking tattoo shop. My eyes widened and I gasped.

"What? Oh, Lily- no! NO, NO, NO!" I gasped, swallowing hard and backing away. Lily caught me by my arm.

"A bet is a bet, and I won it. You have to do this." Lily said, her eyes closed.

"I don't want a tattoo, though! AGH! NO!" I yelped, trying to push her away. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Oh, one tattoo won't kill you. Come on. Don't make me use force, Emi." Lily said, pointing in my face. I gulped again and shook my head quickly.

"But it'll hurt! And what if I don't like it? And…and…NO!" I tried to back away, but Lily had gotten me to the door by that time. She pulled me through the door and my body went tense.

"Look, I'll let you pick what the tattoo is, what colour you want it, and where you want it. You just have to get one." Lily sighed, sitting me down in the waiting room sort of area. I frowned, still slightly panicked.

"But it'll hurt!" I protested.

"Says the girl who breaks a few bones every year!" Lily said. A woman walked over to us and smiled warmly.

"Hello, ladies. How can I help you?"

"Oh, hi. My friend here wants a tattoo. We haven't decided everything about it, yet, but we do want it today." Lily smiled. The woman nodded and clapped her hands together.

"Alright. Come with me, please. We'll figure everything out and get you situated, then we'll get to work. Deal?" she smiled widely, leading us through a curtained door.

The first thing I noticed was the immensely strong smell of ink, which made my eyes water. We were now standing in a hallway that doors dotted down, all of them closed. The hall way had lots of pictures of previous tattoos they'd given, and, from the looks of it, these people were pretty good at their job. I would cut a finger off doing this.

The woman led us to the last door on the right, all the way down the hall way. Either the hall way was crazy long, or I was just way too nervous. Maybe a mix of both?

I cannot believe I'm doing this…If I could; I would just freaking sprint and jump out of the closest window. But I wouldn't want to be charted off to jail for vandalism…and plus, I'd break a leg in the process- that's how I roll.

I was still extremely tense when the woman sat me down in a chair, that had high resemblance to a Dentist's office chair, and sat Lily down in a metal bar stool to the side. The woman sat pulled on a pair of pink latex gloves and smiled, getting her tools ready as she sat beside me.

"First things first, where do you want your tattoo? Anywhere you want it. Don't be shy- I mean, we're both girls here. It's not strange to get a tattoo anywhere…irregular. You know what I mean." She laughed. I glanced at Lily, ignoring the last few awkward comments. Well, I could easily narrow my choices down to three places: the lower middle of my back, my ankle, or my hip. Everyone gets tattoos on their back, so that's out. And if I get a tattoo on my ankle, it'll show whenever I wear flats or heels, so that's out, too. I guess my lucky choice was my hip. The right side, preferably.

"Um…" I said nervously, my heart pounding. "My right hip…"

"Back or front, dear?" the woman asked, scribbling down something in a blue notebook. I read her name tag before she could catch me looking: _Katie_. She looked up at me again and smiled more. "Okay, got it. Your colour of choice?"

"…Black." I replied quicker than the last answer I made. She nodded.

"Ah, that's a solid classic, alright. What do you want your tattoo to be, exactly? You name it, and I'll check my designs for it." Katie said. I thought for a moment.

I remember once when I was twelve, I thought it would be cool to get a tattoo. I always wanted an E, for Emileigha, in Black-ladder cursive or Edwardian Script...So I'll go with that. I'd only need the tattoo to be about two inches or so to look alright.

"I want…An E in Black-ladder cursive, two inches…?" I said in the form of a question. Katie snapped, smiled, and rolled back in her chair to check her designs. She looked through a few filing cabinet drawers and pulled three designs out. She studied them for a bit, and then sat them down and clapped her hands together, again.

"Okay, let's get to work here! I got your tattoo down pat. You know, we're blessed to be magical! Muggles have to _wear _a grocery bag over their tattoos as soon as their done! Not us wizards and witches, though. No, we just sue our wands to make them instantly dry. I'll be done in a jiff, dear." Katie said. I took a deep breath and rolled over, pulling the back of my shirt up. I stared at Lily.

"Lily, will you hold my hand? I'm scared." I said, reaching out to her. Lily laughed and scooted closer, then held my hand like a true best friend would.

"Here we go!" Katie said in sing-song voice, turning the needle on…Or, at least, I hope that was the needle that was making that buzzing noise. Lily laughed at me and I closed my eyes.

Two hours later, I was walking behind Lily, whining.

"Lily, I hate you." I groaned. My hip was killing me. At first, getting a tattoo was just kind of crazy to me, but now that I have it, and it actually looks really classy, it feels kind of normal. I didn't know that it hurt once the whole process of getting a tattoo was over, though.

It itched and felt really warm; it just kind of burned. Oh, it's so irritating!

Lily and I made it to The Three Broomsticks in silence, while Lily kept a proud smile of satisfactory on her face. We walked inside and at the back table were James and Sirius sat. How am I supposed to tell them that I got a tattoo? I couldn't imagine myself getting one, even though I did, so could they imagine that, even?

Why does all this crap happen to me, anyways?

"Lily!" James said nonchalantly, giving her a big smile. He and Sirius, who looked quite sick if I may say, scooted over to let Lily sit beside James and I sat beside Sirius.

"How did it go, guys?" Lily asked proudly, glancing at me. Funny how Lily gets cocky only when she wins.

Sirius frowned and shook his head.

"Well, we got a lot of weird looks, that's for sure. And I count past toes when I count all the little kids that pointed at us. Their mums were _not_ happy with the display, that's for sure. I think the main thing that got us was the stupidity we felt. We feel like that all the time, but now this time was something different. Ugh. And then _he _came." James explained, shivering. I looked at Sirius who rolled his eyes and put his forehead on the table.

"Who's he?" Lily asked curiously, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Em, you remember Richard, right? Him! He walked up to me in his pink skirt and frilly tank top and gave me his number!" James erupted in laughter as Sirius recounted his memory. He glared at James, who still kept laughing. Lily joined in with him and I started to, but James started to talk again once he got the breath.

"The-the funniest part of my day! Hah! So here comes Richard, strutting down the street and trying to be sexy for Sirius, and he starts laughing because he thinks Richard is coming onto me. He walks up to Sirius and scribbles down his number, clicked his tongue with a wink, and whispers 'call me', then he just walks away." James said realistically. I patted Sirius' head as he groaned, the side of his head on the table now.

"Oh, I'm jealous." I sighed dramatically. I took a sip of one of the four butterbeers that were already on the wooden table.

"You better be! I just went through torture." Sirius said quickly, glancing up at me through his bangs. We stared at each other for a minute, and then he put his forehead flat on the table once again. It got awkwardly and unbearably quiet all of the sudden.

"But anyways, ha-ha… Sorry, Padfoot. I can't help but laugh. Okay, seriously, no pun intended, Emi- what did Lily here make you do?" James asked eagerly, his laugh slowly fading. He still wore a smile that made it look like he could burst out laughing at any moment, though. I frowned as Sirius sat up and watched me intently. Lily smirked.

"Tell them, Emi!" she said excitedly. I pretended to cry.

"it's so unbelievably drastic…Lily, how could you be so-so cruel?" I cried.

"Just tell us, Em." Sirius said, tapping my chin. I shook my head.

"I'll do it! I made her get…are you prepared for this? ...a tattoo." Lily said like it was the next big thing. James and Sirius looked at her like she had gotten them a pair of socks for Christmas.

"That's it? Really?" James sighed. Sirius chuckled and leaned back.

"Lily, I have two tattoos. One's on my shoulder, the other's on my chest. A tattoo is nothing compared to walking around in some girly get-up, and acting like a girl. I mean, why didn't you have Em here get her belly button pierced or something?" Sirius laughed. I pinched his arm.

"It hurt sooo bad, though! It was horrible!" I cried again. Sirius and James shook their ehads and Lily looked hurt.

"Well, she already has her belly button pierced! And I thought this was an excellent punishment for such a goody-goody!" Lily scoffed playfully. I kicked her under the table and James look surprised, while Sirius looked impressed.

"Hey, that's personal!" I said, staring Lily down. She shrugged and Sirius nudged me.

"Nice. I seriously- no pun intended- didn't expect that. When'd you get it done?" Sirius asked curiously. My cheeks started to heat up.

"Over the summer. Nobody here is permitted to tell Remus or anyone else." I said while pointing at them all. Sirius smirked, James nodded, and Lily did both actions.

"Does your Dad know?" James asked questionably.

"Yeah. He and Lily went with me, actually." I said. Then I drifted off in La-La Land to wonder why a father would do that. I love him, though.

"That's one cool Dad. I wish mine was like that!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Me too." James said seriously.

"Me three." Lily said, matching James' tone.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool." I smiled

A/N- Thanks for reading! Rate, Review, Love! (: Chapter 23; coming soon! 3


	23. The Shopping Wars!

A/N-

**Warning: Material contains high amounts of fashion and fabulous-ness.**

Hope you like this chapter! Thanks to a certain friend for a cute idea. (: You know who you are!

Review, review, review! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 23-

I was trying to finish some Transfiguration homework in my dorm in Ravenclaw Tower. It was pretty easy, but for some reason I was working so slow. I felt like I was forgetting something, but I don't think there's anything to forget….

Unless I forgot that, of course. _Man._

Jenna had left early this morning, again, to go study in the library for our upcoming OWLS before our classes started. I feel good about the OWLS this year, for sure. I've worked hard in class, and I've studied a lot in the library… on weekdays… Weekends are for shopping, but I'd be alone today, if I went shopping.

I sat my papers and my books down on my bed, my quill falling to the floor. I sighed and fell on my back onto my bed, closing my eyes.

The first thing that comes to my mind?

Sirius, obviously. We haven't talked in a few days- he's been busy with his college applications and studies and what-not. It's weird not seeing him in class so often- it's too quiet. I haven't talked to James or Lily in a while, either. Or Remus and Xeno, Peter, or Alice and Frank. It's just been me, by myself…

I miss everyone!

I almost fell asleep, laying there in bed, but then I heard my door open and I suspected Jenna to be back, but I didn't bother to pay attention.

I hate days like this, when there's nothing to do and no one to talk to. I sighed mentally.

Then, suddenly, the light bulb went off, and I felt slightly stupid, but my excitement took over. I should just go shopping- forget about being alone! Besides writing and reading, fashion is my favourite thing (Otherwise known as shopping).

I shot up and stood up, my hair flying in y face. I brushed it back with my hand and turned to Jenna, who apparently had just walked in, who was observing my ecstatic move. She cocked a brow and nodded, then grabbed some clothes and went in the bathroom for a shower. I did the same, but instead of grabbing clothes, I grabbed a pair of gray cotton panties and a matching bra, then my bathrobe and went in my bathroom. I bounced into my bathroom, did what I went in for, brushed my teeth, blow-dried my hair, put on my undergarments and my bathrobe, and then skidded out excitedly. Jenna was already out, painting her nails an unusually bright shade of sea foam green. I have to get some new nail polish today, speaking of which.

I opened my dresser drawers and searched for something to wear. Today, it was still kind of cold outside. After all, it was only February 2nd. That reminds me…there's a dance for Valentine's Day. That's only 12 days away! I _**will **_go to this one, no matter what. Okay, so at the top of the list: a new dress! Or I could wear that peach-coloured one…but then I wouldn't have as much fun. A new dress it is! What colour would I get though? Something in the Valentine's palette? Oh, it's so exciting…

I slid out of my robe, just dropping it to the floor, not caring if Jenna saw or not. She'd changed in front of me before, and we're both girls, anyways. I felt odd doing it, but I had to check out my belly-button piercing. It was nothing crazy, just a white pearl and a diamond stud on top. Eveyr day I had the potential to freak out if I were to find that it was infected. I nodded coolly, actually feeling cool, and picked out my outfit. I pulled on a grey v-neck, a pair of dull teal jeans, and a grey sweatshirt that said 'Marty and the Hippogriffs!' in teal (which is why I got it, not to mention that the band was pretty awesome), and last but not least a grey beanie. I quickly ran to the door and put on a pair of neat converse and tied them up. I grabbed my purse, putting my wand and my wallet inside, and I headed out the door, spraying some cherry-champagne (my personal favorite fragrance) body spray on as I went. I bounded down the stairs, out of the common room, through the corridors and finally out of the Great Hall, basically sprinting, and made my way to a carriage.

I shared the carriage with four third year girls, who constantly shot compliments at me, and somehow they even knew me.

"Your Emileigha Lupin, right? Fifth year?" One girl asked. I nodded.

"Oh, yeah…Um…In the best way possible, how do you know me?" I asked questionably. All four of the girls giggled.

"Well, both of my brothers have a crush on you!" The same girl laughed. Another laughed with her.

"My brother likes you too!" The other girl laughed. She looked exactly like Brandon. I had to ask.

"Is your brother Brandon Creevey?" I asked. She nodded and covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing, even though she made it quite obvious that she was.

"Oh, do you know mine? Samuel and Marcus Nolan? Marcus is in Ravenclaw, too, so I bet." The first girl nodded. They all broke into yet another fit of giggles. I had no idea who Samuel was, but I knew Marcus- he was on the Quidditch team. I didn't know he liked me.

The carriage came to a stop and I was the first one out. They all waved goodbye and hurried off with a group of raggedy boys. I rolled my eyes. I remember when everyone was going through that phase, in our third year. Good times. And to think that that was only two years ago! Hogwarts was going by way too fast for me. I can't imagine what I'll do when I'm out of here. Truth be told, I should be thinking about that more than anything instead of going shopping. I've barely even prepared. I mean, the most I've done is taken a few college classes- one from WizTech, one from a college of magical design, and two from a muggle college. At least I've put in a little hard work, right? I'll plan some things out later today.

I headed to my first store of choice, Witchly, which only sold clothes for teenage girls, typically witches- after all, it was Hogsmede. I waltzed in happily, and immediately was stared down by a pack of other teenage girls, older than me. They were definitely out of Hogwarts- about 18 or 19. I half-smiled awkwardly and went to the back of the store as quickly as possible. I nabbed a stray cart and as I passed through the aisles, I realized that there was, in fact, a huge sale today. So…

The Shopping Wars begin.

Bring it! I smirked. I'm totally a pro at this! I've been in these, well, at least a million times. I know how it goes down. You get as much cute stuff as you can, put it in your cart or basket, pay for it, and walk away with your dignity. The only trouble is getting to the item you want, and taking it back to your cart. There's a chance you might lose the hands you were carrying that special scarf or hat you wanted to your cart.

I was standing in the shoe section. I looked around for any sign of any other people. Seeing that there were none, I continued with my pleasures of shopping. It's crazy when you go all warrior-style when it comes to Black Friday, yes- but when you're a witch, it's far worse. You have the advantage of magic, and normally the cashiers a store clerks, even managers and assistants, flee from the store as soon as someone uses magic.

I'm proud to say that I, Emileigha Jayne Lupin, am a veteran of the Shopping Wars.

I put a pair of brown knee-high lace-up boots, soft burgundy button pumps, and camo green ankle booties with a brown heel and toe in my cart. Perhaps- only perhaps- that will cover my need of new shoes; that was a good 100-110 dollars spent, I think. Thank god this was a muggle-related store: no galleons or sickles or knuts used here! Honestly, I don't know how to convert real money to wizard money- it's pretty sad. When I picked up the ankle booties, I saw a pair of blue eyes staring at me through the little holes in the shelves of the shoe rack. I jumped and dropped the shoes into my cart.

"I wanted those shoes! Those are the only ones that come in size six!" the girl with blue eyes growled. All I could make out, aside from her blue eyes, was that she had light brown hair. I bit my bottom lip and put my hand on my hip (ultimate Missy Prissy rhyme).

"Sorry, they're already in my cart." I apologized. What? You've got to be a little tough and a little mean in the Shopping Wars!

"Don't take attitude with me!" she hissed. I rolled my eyes and continued. Aren't girls just the meanest?

Next I pushed my cart to an aisle with accessories and only accessories. There were two girls in this aisle, fighting over a Persian-print designer scarf with fringe like it was a game of tug of war. In the Shopping Wars, you've got to have strategy. I put my cart in a safe position and got kind of close to them. They both growled at each other and then at me.

"Give me the scarf!" the first blonde cried. The other one snorted, like Lily does when James tries to sound mathematical in Arithmancy, and I think she tried to spit on the other girl.

"Let go!" she screamed, just as the scarf ripped in half. They both had half of a scarf in their hands, then both pieces suddenly flew to the floor and their eyes widened. "I didn't do it!" and then they both ran for it. I shook my head a pulled out my wand.

"Reparo." I said as the scarf mended itself back together. I picked it up and tossed it in my cart, along with a black fedora, a brown knit beret, a long burgundy and copper scarf (which nearly matched my hair), and a vintage-worn belt. That same girl from the shoe aisle stood at the end of the aisle. She was at least six feet tall, no doubt about it.

"You have style, don't you?" she said. I thought that was a compliment, if anything.

"Thanks." I said. She cocked a brow. "What?"

"That wasn't a compliment, honey- you're taking everything I want to buy. It really looks like you have style, actually- aren't converse so in? or was that in 1970?" She laughed, like what she said was really that funny. I stared at her, digging my nails into the handle of my shopping cart.

"So, you think _you_ have style? That must be why you're wearing that David Bowie shirt with those leather jeans, and tan Uggs. Great match." I said in the same tone she used with me. I like David Bowie, actually.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, stomping.

"Hmph!" I pushed the cart out of the aisle snootily, sticking my butt out for emphasis. Yeah, I mean business. I narrowed my way through lots of fights. For instance, there were three girls who each had a strong hold on each other's hair. I raised my eyebrows and quickly took a left turn, where I came upon the jewelry section of the store. One of my favourites!

In the aisle, there wasn't a single person. This was my chance to pile every single thing that was adorable into my cart.

I shoveled in lacy headbands, flower hair-pins and bows, simulated diamond bracelets and necklaces, necklaces with keys and pocket watches and lockets on them, and anything else that was, well, amazing.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!" Two girls, twins I think, cried. I turned to them and cocked a brow then skidded out of the aisle, snatching a few more rings, before they could run me out. You can never have enough jewelry!

When I came to the clothing section, girls were battling left to right. I ducked just in time before I was hit in the face with a flying clothes hanger. I stayed low and maneuvered my cart to a wall with jeans, grabbing a few colored boot-cuts, some ultra-flairs, and some patterned skinnies. Jeans aren't my main priorities, though.

It was an accident, but I tripped a girl with short blonde hair and she got pretty mad. I got smacked on the leg for that, oddly enough, but I was able to shake it off…yes, without hitting her back. I'm not that mean…or, maybe I am; I don't express my temper much. I jumped up and hid my cart behind a big sign that listed all the aisles that were having sales, then raced back. A girl pushed me out of the way when I was looking through a rack of scoop neck T-shirts. I walked away with three shirts- one salmon colored, silk, and two were ember in blue and red, cotton.

I took them to my cart and came back to the rack.

"Excuse me, I was there a bit before you, when you came and pushed me. I'd like my spot back." I said, trying to be as polite as possible, even though I was getting pretty mad. The girl ignored me, of course. "Hey!" Ignored, yet again. I sighed and walked off, and the girl smiled in satisfactory. She SO wasn't prepared for what I was about to do.

I ran at her and jumped on her.

Maybe it was over the top, maybe it wasn't. I did, either way. The girl thrashed around and screamed and pretty much every girl jumped on another. It's funny how one action can cause another million- especially if they're bad actions. I jumped off the girl, landing flat on the floor, and the girl fell down beside me she growled and shoved me down when I got up, so I just crawled to this really cute brown-leather pilot jacket. When I got it, I had to crawl all the way back to my cart before I was squished by the other fighting people. I leaned against the sign and took a few deep breaths. My hair was a mess, my beanie was sloppily shoved in my pocket, my sweatshirt was wrinkled, and my converse were untied.

"Woo…" I exhaled. I got up and back in battle stance. "Let's do this thing!"

I ran, screaming and ducking at the same time, through racks of clothes and evil girls, my clothes getting tugged at constantly. I was lucky that I wasn't killed on my way to some long-sleeved shirts. There was this sweet gray shirt with pastille pink flowers all over it, and an oatmeal one that said 'Manchester Rugby' in red on the front that I _had_ to have. Of course, I grabbed a few plain long-sleeved shirts in my fabulous choice of colours, not to mention a few nerdy cardigans- some with stripes, some with polka-dots, all much too cute.

After taking those to my cart, which was piled high with stuff, I hid safely in the middle of a clothes rack. Normally, you'd only see small children do this to scare their mum's, but I'm used to seeing other people- grown people- do this.

See, there was one thing left that I really, really wanted. A pack of socks. There were four different pairs in the pack- one argyle print, one with stripes, and I guess the last two were a mystery. But, I wanted them- I wanted them very, very badly. Apparently, so did the other girls in the battle. I'm positive that I have way more things that would match with those darling socks in a randomly selected suitcase from my closet than in their entire wardrobe…if that makes sense. It's true, though- really. Right now, the tall girl who didn't have style for sure had a hold of them, along with the girl I jumped on. If I went for the socks, they'd both kill me, I bet.

It's definitely worth it though, for those socks.

_Sacrifice anything to be fabulous!_

I rolled out of the rack like a spy and ran for the socks. I jumped on both girls at the same time and almost fell off, but kept my grip. I swear, it was like riding one of those mechanical bulls you find at those cool pubs!

"GET OFF OF ME!" the tall girl screamed. I only held on tighter as she thrashed and twirled around. The other girl was wildly throwing punches, which were miraculously missing the both of us. We got lucky, because those punches looked pretty hard.

"AGH!" The puncher screamed, tackling us to the ground, finally. We fell with a loud thud.

"GIVE ME THE BLOODY SOCKS!" I screamed as loud as I could. It was just the three of us, now, fighting it out on the floor. The other girls were too shocked to do anything, apparently. It was quiet, except for our fight. I've never been in so much danger in my whole life! Well, except for that time when I got a concussion, but you get the point.  
I finally latched my hands on the socks, digging my nails into the package for extra support. I still felt like I was riding a bull, so finally just buckled my legs around the girl's legs so she couldn't kick me. I definitely was going to have some bruises after today, that's for sure. The puncher rolled over me, and I kicked her off of my legs somehow, then I was kicked again. We were all still screaming. Actually, it was more like wailing.

Alright, battle crying. That's as low as the term can get.

The next thing I know, I'm running for my life all around the store, complete with a black eye. After three or four times of circling every single aisle, I made it back to my cart and threw the socks in.

"YES! I WIN! I WIN! I WIN! WOO! YEAH, BABY!" I exclaimed, doing a little happy dance. I slapped my butt, nearly out of breath. "Woo…yeah…" I pulled my cart along as every other girl saluted me sternly. So where's my purple heart badge? I could add another to my collection!

Finally, I was heading down the street, ten shopping bags altogether- some paper, some plastic. My hands felt like they were going to break but I had a feeling that it would be disrespectful of myself to let go of what I fought for, so I kept walking towards the carriages. I blame the Shopping wars for this mess. And to think, there'll be more through-out the rest of the year when other stores try to clean out their girl in the same carriage we were in before looked at me, and I think I could detect slight jealousy in there eyes.

"Wow! Did you just have a shopping spree? Like, only have dreams of those." One girl said- also Brandon's sister. I nodded coolly.

"Yeah, my Dad would kill me if I spent even fifty bucks on something!" another girl said.

"Did you pay for it by yourself?" Brandon's sister asked.

"Well, yeah- you kind of have to when your fifteen. Your parents can't always pay for your stuff." I said. They all nodded and whispered something to each other about being 'grown up'.

"Did you get in a fight?" The smallest girl suddenly asked. I narrowed my eyes at her and she looked away quickly. I tried to straighten my clothes and fix my hair a bit.

"Just because my hair is messy doesn't mean I got in a fight!" I exclaimed in a fake tone, smiling. Children are kind of annoying...well, 13 year old are. I jumped out of the carriage when we got back to Hogwarts and headed to Ravenclaw tower to have a little fashion show with myself. That was 467 dollars well-spent.

I hope Dad doesn't mind.

A/N- Review, favourite, follow, and love! (: This chapter was meant to be more playful than the others. I hope you liked it as much as I did.


	24. Something a little Wild!

Chapter 24-

Sitting in my room has never been so boring. I closed my eyes, hoping something a little wild might happen and prayed to Godric that my wish would come through.

Godric Gryffindor must have been arguing with Salazar Slytherin, because the only thing that happened was when a speckled grey owl- Ramsey, as Dad calls him- flew in through an open window. He landed neatly on a catty cornered desk and dropped a letter.

After he dropped the letter, he turned his head to me and squeaked. It kind of freaked me, considering that he has alien eyes.

"I don't have anything to give you…" I said. His head turned to my night stand- where I hid my chocolate. I gasped. "Go away!" I screamed. The bird squeaked and snapped at me, then finally he flew out the window again.

I looked down at the letter.

_Emileigha Jayne Lupin_

_Ravenclaw Tower, Dorm 14 _

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Christopher Jonathon Lupin_

_229 Eastwood Drive_

_London, England_

So it's from Dad. Normally I get quite a few letters from him through-out the year, but now the school year is almost over and this is the first letter I've received from him. I ripped it open and started reading after a sigh.

_Dear Emileigha,_

_I'm terribly sorry that I haven't written to you in such a long time. I've been adding on to the Ministry of Magic since Christmas, and in a few days we'll be finished with everything. _

_I hope school is going good. I can't believe Remus and yourself are in fifth year! Of course, I'd feel just the same if you were actually in fourth. After third year, the rest of your years in Hogwarts are by far the most important. They are the years of accountability, what with O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S. _

_I know you'll do amazing in both testing subjects and I want you to know I am very, very proud of you. You've grown up to be such a great young lady, very pleasurable to be around. Your Social and Academic Achievements are beyond amazing, honey. You remind me so much of your mother. I'm sure she's just as happy with you as I am. _

_Anyways, I've just received a bill of a little over four hundred dollars. I hope you had a nice shopping spree. But did you get me anything? Ha-ha._

_And, in addition to 'anyways', I have exciting news!_

_I've been thinking lately, and I have decided that we, as a family, need to go on vacation. I've booked just the spot. California, in the U.S.! Theres a lovely beach there. It's named after a palce in Italy! Venice Beach. I hope you're excited! _

_There are lots of fun things there. We can rent a boat and spend hours out on the water. Speaking of the water, its crystal blue- you can see the sand straight through it! There are daily dance shows and what they call 'bright night festivals', with dancing and crazy outfits and glow sticks and lights! There are also lots of cultural restaurants and- for real- shops. Lots and lots of them. We'll have a ball._

_I told Remus he could take two friends, and I assume you know who he chose. The Potter's decided to go on their own, actually, to tag along with us. Apparently, Sirius has moved in with them, so they're going to pay for his flight so he can come along too. Peter, for some reason, didn't want to come. I hope these arrangements are alright with you. We'll be staying in the same unit. A kitchen, four bedrooms, a pool, and a boat deck, plus a few other details. Such fascinating lay-outs! I'd be more than happy to let Lily come along, if you'd like._

_You'll need quite a few things for the trip, but I'm only going to list the basics. Please, please, please explain this checklist to Lily. We wouldn't want anyone to forget something at home, would we?_

_-Swimsuits, sunglasses, changes of clothes for two whole weeks, unmentionables, at least two to three pairs of shoes, sunscreen, something to keep you busy for the flight there and the flight back._

_In my own life…well, this is embarrassing, but do you remember where I put my black shoes? The one that kind of look like tap-dancing shoes? I can't find them anywhere! I hope we don't have an infestation of Nargles! Hah! _

_It's been pretty lonely here, without Remus and yourself. So my singing voice keeps me company. I was wondering…are you lonely too? Call it premonition if you want, because I had a dream that you were sitting alone in the library. You looked sad and I think you wanted someone to come and visit you, but nobody came. That's how I feel. Your mother had so many friends- but now none of us talk, because she was the one who kept up with the numbers. If I were to call one of our friends, I'd mistakably call the prime minister. It's true! _

_Aren't I hilarious? Ha-ha. _

_Well, I'll see you in a few months. I'll try to write as often as I can, though I've heard that the hospital wants a new clinic. Lots of love, sweetie. _

_Yours truly,_

_Dad_

I smiled and put the letter down. Venice Beach in California?! How cool is that?! I couldn't wait to tell Lily (of course she could come)! I'm pretty cool with Sirius and James coming. I bet Lily would like that a lot. And I probably already like the idea of Sirius coming; it's just that I'm too embarrassed to really think about it. Imagine the chemistry!

And if my dad knew of the issues I've had with the Nargles…Oh lord.

I've always liked it when Dad talks about Mum. It doesn't make me sad. Nothing ever makes me sad about my mum, unless it's about how she died. But then I think of the last few things she told me, and I feel a lot better.

What bugs me is our relationship. Me and Dad- we'll never be as close as we once were. It's not because of my mum dying.

It's what he did to Remus.

Dad seems like a nice guy, someone who wouldn't judge anyone else and someone who would be anyone's best friend. I'll admit it, he is for the most part. But on that awful night Remus was attacked by that Werewolf…When we found out that Remus was going to be different…Dad was different.

When Remus first came home, Dad stayed locked up in his study constantly. He never came to check on Remus. He never talked to him, and he'd only talk to me in the morning. I was the one who tended to Remus until he could take care of himself after that night. I was the one who made sure he got home safely after his transformation. The one who helped him into bed and made him some soup afterwards. The one who didn't quit loving him.

Yes, I was a little scared of Remus. I've never liked horror movies or scary things in my life (but I can go for a little thriller, that's all) and I was only six, about to turn seven. Was I supposed to be happy that he was a werewolf or what? Dad, on the other hand, knew that werewolves were real, and he never acted like he was afraid. But then, when his life is changed for the worst, he turns on his only son and leaves his six year old daughter to take care of him? I know that he loved Mum. But I thought he loved Remus, too. I also thought he loved me. He did, surely. Because we were like pieces of Mum.

But he didn't love us as much as I thought.

It's hard to explain. Anyways, after Dad started doing that, I remember Remus starting to notice. He'd get out of bed at night and try to get into Dad's study. He'd cry and bang on the door for hours, and Dad would just pretend to be asleep. I know he'd pretend because once I snuck outside just to see if that was true. Dad would hold his head in his hands and just sit there. I would find a way to get Remus back to bed- normally by begging and crying. A lot of times, Remus cared for me when Dad didn't. I owe Remus a lot, in fact, even though I did the same for him. I feel like he did more for me.

Finally, something awful happened. The tension at home got so bad, and none of us could stand it. It was Remus and I against Dad, who barely came out of his study. Dad, who quit eating. Dad, who must've slept in the floor. Jonathon Lupin, no lob=nger Dad, who abandoned his children.

I was still going to a muggle school when I was about nine, and it was typical for me to walk back home from school. When I came home one afternoon, I found Remus, on the floor, crying and bleeding.

He cut himself_. On purpose_. Self harm.

At first I didn't know what to do. I grabbed a dish towel and wrapped it around his hand, to try and stop the bleeding. Then I _had_ to get Dad out of his study.

"_Dad! Remus is hurt!" I yelled, banging on his study door. There was no answer. "Dad!" I screamed again, hoping he hadn't heard me at first, hoping he was just playing a mean trick. Still there was no answer. I hit the door a repeated amount of times, and it never opened. At this point, I had started to wail and cry. "Daddy, please!" No answer. I ran back into the kitchen and looked at Remus, who was still sniffling. _

"_Remus, stay right there, Don't move. I'm gonna go get a neighbor." I said between scared sobs. I darted out the door, and ran for what felt like forever until I reached a neighbor's house. It was a tall blonde woman, who looked a little older than Dad. I dragged her to the house and when we walked through the door, there was Dad, holding Remus to him as tight as he could, looking older and tired._

"_It's alright, we have everything under control. I just came in from work. I didn't think they'd even be home yet. Thank-you anyways, Janice. I think we'll be okay- I just need to get him to the hospital." Dad lied. I felt my eyes grow wide. _

"_I could drive you guys-"_

"_It's quite alright. I have this under control. But…could you watch Emileigha here, until I get back with Remus?" he asked. Janice nodded and lead me to the living room, where we watched a random Disney movie to try to get me to calm down. _

Dad was a bit better after that. He and Remus had a tight bond once again (which has grown tighter over the years), but me and Dad didn't. I wouldn't let us. And I still won't. I will never forgive him for what he did to us. Maybe he thought he only did something to Remus, but it hurt me, too.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and tried to think positive. For example…

Are Lily and I going to go shopping, again, for our vacation? I'd love to! And James and Sirius could tag along, too, I guess. Maybe Sirius would let me pick some stuff out for him? Not that he has a big problem with that anyways. But, hey, I've helped out before and it's never been a fail.

I don't know how, but suddenly I pictured James in a speedo and almost puked. I gagged, but didn't puke- surprisingly. I finally decided that being in the room would bring back that image, so I literally ran out. I took a deep breath and exited the common room. As soon as I stepped out, I bumped into somebody. I realized it was Xeno, who I hadn't spoken with in a while now.

"Xeno! How're you?" I exclaimed. Xeno, who still towered over me, smiled warmly.

"Hello, Emileigha!" he said, patting my head. I laughed awkwardly.

"You seem happy. What's up?" I asked, smiling.

"I just got back from an adventure!" he said proudly. "I met the Nargles."

"Did they bark at you?" I asked, knowing the answer I'd get.

Instead, I got a confused, 'oh-you're-crazy' look. Wait…what?

"Ha-ha…Just kidding…I-I'll see you later, X." I said, scratching the back of my head. I hurried off, looking over my shoulder as I walked. Again, I bumped into something. But this was no person. This was a scene that made me quite angry. I quickly ducked behind a golden knight and watched ahead as Marlene McKinnon got her flirt on with Sirius Black. My cheeks got pink, but this time I think I was just really mad. I was very jealous. _**Very**_ jealous.

It's wrong to eavesdrop, but is it that bad when it's your crush your eaves dropping on? Surely not.

"So, Sirius, the Quidditch Team is doing great this year, huh?" Marlene asked. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, we're doing pretty good. We're going to get that Cup this year. It's nine years over-due." He said sternly. Marlene gave a flirty smile and Sirius looked around like he hadn't seen it. She stepped a little closer to him. I could feel my blood boiling.

"I know you'll get it. You're the best player on the team." Marlene sighed dreamily.

"Well, I am pretty good. But James is of equal greatness." Sirius nodded in satisfactory.

"I think you're amazing! So whatcha up to?" she asked in fake curiosity, putting an innocent look on her face.

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering around." Sirius said, his cheeks going red. NO, NO, NO!

That's supposed to be _my_ blush! The one he gets from_ me_, not Marlene! She already has a boyfriend! And she even knows that I like Sirius! I've told her face-to-face! Oh my gosh.

I looked down; making sure my heart wasn't lying on the floor, dying. It felt like it, at least.

"Really? Me too! That's so crazy!" Marlene squealed. "But anyhow, I wanted to ask you something…" Marlene leaned towards Sirius. Sirius was just looking at her like usual.

"What?" he asked curiously. Marlene locked her arm with Sirius' and smiled. Sirius raised his eyebrows, and I couldn't tell if he tried to get out of the lock, but it really didn't look like it. Then again, a bushy fern was in my way.

"Do you have a date to the dance?" she asked. NO! This can't be happening! Not today!

"No, I don't…" Sirius opened his mouth to say something again, but Marlene here cut him off.

"So you'll go with me, right?"

"I-" Sirius was cut off again by Marlene, who bouncing up and down. I could feel angry tears well up in my eyes. I hate jealousy. But was Sirius going to say 'I'd love to'? That starts with 'I'!

Oh, please…no. Please, please, please- no! Why is this happening?

"Yay! This is awesome! So, I'm gonna wear a hot pink dress. Maybe you should get a matching suit? Totally! You'd look as cute as a button! Pick me up at eight. Actually, I'll meet you in the Common Room at Eight. Whatever!" she said excitedly, all too fast. Sirius looked awe-stricken as Marlene skipped away happily. I looked around. _What do I do? _

When I looked back, Sirius was turned around talking to Niall, who sounded a little too informational for Sirius' attention. The only way I would live was if I went down the corridor Sirius was in- that's where Lily was. I came out from behind the knight and quickly started to walk down the corridor. I passed Sirius, and, of course, I caught his eye.

"Hey, Em!" he exclaimed. I bit my bottom lip and waved to him awkwardly. In return, I got a confused look. "I'll see you later, Niall." Sirius said. He jogged over to me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing- I'm fine." I said, half-smiling. Sirius shook his head slowly.

"No. Your eyes are red and watery. What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. My stomach was in knots- it was almost unbearable.

"Really, I'm fine." I said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Sirius stared at me for a moment and frowned.

"Please tell me if there's something wrong. I hate to see you upset, Em." Sirius said. I frowned too.

"Sirius, I'm alright." I said promisingly. Sirius nodded, but I could tell he wasn't falling for it.

"Okay, whatever you say. So, uh…Do you have a date to the dance yet? I'm assuming you do." Sirius smiled. I laughed- but it was kind of fake.

"No, actually, I don't. I was going to ask someone, but…Well, they already have a date." I said, hoping he wouldn't catch on to the fact that it was Sirius I was talking about here. He cocked a brow.

"And who might that be?" he winked. So did he want me to ask him? But…he's going with Marlene, isn't he? I'm so confused!

But…There's only one way to find out.

"You really want to know?" I asked. Sirius smirked.

"Sure." He said slyly. I sighed.

"I _wanted_ to ask you…but…you know. It's okay." I said, half-smiling. Sirius' eyes grew wide and he sighed.

"You heard that?" he said. The color from his face was slowly draining. I nodded.

"Yeah, but I understand." I said awkwardly. Sirius looked down at me, and his eyes looked sad.

We just stared at each other for a moment- a really intense stare. Sirius finally shook his head and pulled me against his chest into a hug. He was really warm and smelled like cologne- not an extremely heavy, minty cologne…something like spice, kind of sweet. It took a minute for me to adjust, but I hugged back.

"If you heard everything that happened, you really do understand, right? I don't understand how this stuff happens. Doesn't Marlene have a boyfriend right now, anyways? And why does she suddenly fancy me? If I just said no to her, she'd hate me, the rest of the marauders, _and_ you. Then imagine the rumors. What do I do?" Sirius sighed, twisting a lock of my hair around his finger. I patted his back and sighed along with him.

"Just go with her." I said. Sirius shook his head again and hugged me a little tighter and let out a heavy breath. Why is he getting so worked up about it?

Then again, I'm the one who was jealous. I didn't even realize that I was completely chill about everything already.

"But I don't want to go with Marlene. I want to go with you. I missed the last dance, and even ruined that night for you. I want to make it up to you, Em." Sirius breathed.


	25. Marlene!

A/N- Hey! Here's chapter 25. It's been a while! Well, I hope you like it!

Enjoy!(:

Chapter 25-

"Okay, guys, it's our last game before we go against the other winning team for the house cup. We're not going to break our winning streak, are we?" I said to my team. We were all huddled together, discussing strategy and sportsmanship. We were all in our gear and uniforms, pumped up. Last night I told everyone to take it easy, go to bed early and get a good night's sleep,

"No way!" everyone called back proudly.

"Alright, that's the spirit. Okay, we have some new players, we have some old. Either way, you guys have done excellent, may this be your first or your seventh. I'm so proud. Great job. Ravenclaw will be more than happy when we add that cup to our collection. Year number nine, coming up. Go Eagles!" I exclaimed. We all high-fived or yelled 'Go Eagles' then went out to the field. You could tell our team was just pumped.

"It's Ravenclaw against Slytherin, folks. Here we go. Emileigha Lupin, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, goes to shake…Charlie Duncan's, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, hand." Tomas Flagler, the announcer for all the Quidditch games, said into the mic in the stands. He was in Hufflepuff, and you could tell.

I went up to shake Charlie's hand. When there's a female captain, she doesn't get her hands squeezed as tight as possible. But, she can do just that to the other player, of course. I'm not mean enough to do that, though. After all, it's bad enough that he's about to face the Eagles anyways. Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and we were off.

"Lupin flies overhead, Duncan has his eye one her…Bridger passes the Quaffle- right to Jones, he's flying to the ring, alright…Slytherin scores! 10 to 0. Oh, and suddenly we have Chang and Davis head and head. What's this, are they aiming for each other? Chang nearly knocks Davis off his broom…Davis fires back! Oh! Chang tastes the mud." Tomas said.

"Daniel, are you alright?" I called. Daniel nodded and got back on his broom as Madame Hooch called a foul. All the Slytherins- and even the ones who weren't on the field- groaned and booed Ravenclaw. A few even gave some of our own players the finger. I rolled my eyes and focused on the game. We had the ball first.

I could see everything, flying so high above everyone. The Marauders and Lily and Alice were holding up Ravenclaw-decorated signs that said 'Emi!' or 'Em!' on them.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of gold. It was gone in a flash, and somehow I was telling myself not to go for it just yet. But Duncan saw it, I think.

He gave me an evil smirk and looked back down to the game. I started to drift low, keeping my eye on him, watching his every move. Unfortunately, I missed our first score. Being Captain, I probably should have seen that.

Duncan shot past me, chasing after nothing, just to scare me out of the blue. My bangs blew in that direction as he passed, and I huffed. He flashed me the same grin as before while I narrowed my eyes at him.

Then, I missed us score yet again, but I did happen to see Marcus grin. He must have made the shot.

"Ravenclaw in the lead, 20 to 10." Tomas said flatly, McGonagall now standing by his side. That happened last time he announced, too.

The Snitch suddenly flew by my head, making me nearly fall off my broom.

"Lupin nearly falls off the broom, has she seen the Snitch? Duncan's flying low yet again, does he see the Snitch too? Oh! Finnigan hits the Bludger right at Chang. Chang dodges and Davis gets his back…Ah, nice save Daniel! Chang dodges again, the Bludger has hit Finnigan! Hooch is calling a time-out. Finnigan's hurt." Tomas yelled excitedly, wincing as he said that Finnigan was hit.

We all stopped in our places at the sound of the whistle, except for Duncan, who had his eye on something. As Madame Hooch helped Finnigan off the field, I realized that Duncan had, in fact, seen the Snitch. But why wasn't he going after it?

I watched closely as Daniel hit the Bludger towards Davis, and Davis hit it back, only it flew backwards somehow. Jones sped up to get the Quaffle from Marcus, but he was too fats. I'm glad I put him on the team.

Then suddenly, I had to swoop down and rise back up as Davis shot a Bludger at me.

Davis (Beater), Jones (Beater), Finnigan (Chaser), and Duncan (Seeker) were the only Slytherins I needed to worry about in this game. They were always after me, no doubt about it.

I had Marcus, Daniel, Lockhart (who I forced to play Chaser, considering that he would play fairly well) out, not to mention a few newer players who were quite good. One of the four chasers was Hannah Dewberry, another Lane Greengrass, the third Byron Steele, and the fourth Natalie Carney.

"Carney passes to Steele, Steele passes to Lockhart- Ah! There it is! Lockhart scores! Ravenclaw, 30 to 10. What's the matter Slytherins?" Tomas teased. Every Slytherin shot him a look that promised a beating, while the others in the stands laughed.

"Oh no- I mean, Oh- Davis hits the Bludger at Lockhart. Lockhart dodges, but the Bludger hits Greengrass. It's all good, he's gotten back up just like that! Daniel hits the Bludger at Davis! Davis dodges, but manages to smack the Bludger back! Abbott hits the Bludger to Jones- oh! It hits him right in the face! Ouch! Madame Hooch calls a second time-out."

Again, we all stopped. I gave Marcus a reassuring smile, seeing the displeased, sorry look on his face. His took a deep breath, practically in unison with mine, and Jones was back up, ignoring his slightly bloody and bent nose.

"Ravenclaw! 60 to 20!" Tomas literally screamed into the mic. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw went wild, whopping and yelling in joy and excitement, while Slytherin sat there and barely clapped, sulking.

The Snitch, out of nowhere, flew right in front of me. It hovered in front of my face for a moment, before Duncan went after it and it started to fly away at what seemed like the speed of light. I chased after them, but I'll admit it I was lagging.

In a moment's notice, we were neck-and-neck, both of our hands out reached, trying to grasp the Snitch. Duncan snarled at me and bumped me, which I didn't return in fear that we'd get fouled. It was a rough bump, though- he was a big, tall, not-that-lean guy, no offense.

"I'm going to get this, Lupin. You should get out of my way, if you know what's good for you." He sneered, eyes narrowed.

"And let _you_ take the cup? Please. After I get the Snitch, I'll beat Gryffindor, too. It's you who should get out of my way." I scoffed, as he tried to push me again. I passed him so he'd only poke the back of my broom. He caught up to me in no time.

"Hah! I'm not going to let your stupid Eagles win the cup a tenth time!" He yelled angrily, a wicked grin spreading on his face. Is it just me, or does every Slytherin have the same evil grin?

"Actually, this will be our ninth time, mind you. But, when we do win the cup the tenth time, we can talk again." I said, reaching my hand out. He forcefully slapped my hand down and reached his out, but Madame Hooch didn't see that. I could hear The marauders and Lily booing- Sirius being the loudest.

"Stupid girl!" he said, coughing and laughing at the same time.

"I just so happen to be smarter than you, sir." He cocked an eyebrow at this.

"Wha-" Bam. Right into the fabricated tower of Hufflepuff on the pitch. I swooped backwards, in time to catch the Snitch. But I reached a bit too far out and fell face first off my broom, snitch in-hand. I fell on my elbows and knees.

"Agh…" I groaned, sitting on my butt while holding the snitch up. "Bruises…"

"RAVENCLAW WINS THE GAME! THEY"RE GOING TO THE FINAL GAME, THEY ARE! RAVENCLAW WINS! 210 TO 20! GO EAGLES, GO!" Tomas yelled, jumping up and down. He held the mic right to his mouth, turned in a corner so Professor McGonagall couldn't grab it. Every house, except Slytherin cheered madly, and the rest of the team's friends ran onto the field to congratulate us. Daniel jogged over, panting when he stopped, and helped me up, a big smile on his face.

"Emileigha! That was a great game you played!" Daniel said while he was pulling me up. I brushed myself off and smiled.

"Oh, please- if only you could see yourself out there! Great job." I said, patting his back. He nodded and raced off with the rest of the team.

Sirius, James, and Lily ran up to me, all looking beyond happy.

"EMI! That was just…just bloody amazing!" Lily cried, hugging me way too tight.

"Oh, Lily- you're hugging me too tight! Too tight, too tight!" I said. She let go and dropped me back on my feet. James approached me next, pride in his eyes.

"Well. I've seen what we'll be going against this year for that cup." He said, puffing his chest out. "Good luck. Great game." He smiled confidently, nodding. Sirius was the last one to come up to me. Lily and James intertwined their fingers and started walking back to the castle, talking about the game still.

"Em, that was…wow! I'm really proud of you, you know. It's pretty hard to look for the Snitch and watch your whole team at the same time- but you did it." He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I smiled up at him, my face getting a little pink. "I'm sorry that Gryffindor will have to beat you, though. We'll be seeing you and your team in the final game." He smirked mischievously. I lightly punched his arm and laughed.

"That was supposed to be a happy moment, you know!" I grinned along with him.

"Sorry, love- we just need that cup." He said, slumping his arm over my shoulders. I did the same to him, except around his waist.

"Yeah, James has been telling me about this. Everyone still thinks we're on odd terms." I said, poking his side. He squirmed for a second and grabbed that hand, looking down at me.

"Don't do that." He said seriously, and then smirked. I laughed.

"Why? Are you ticklish?" I asked, cocking a brow while a smirk played at my lips.

Sirius looked at me for a moment as I tried to wriggle my hand out of his grasp. When I finally did, I lightly pinched and poked him in the same spot before and he started laughing.

"St-stop it! Em…Ha-ha! I'm gonna…ah! Get you for this…" he laughed between words. He didn't pull away for about a minute, but finally ripped away. He panted for a minute, backing up and looked at me, shaking my head. "I _will_ get you back, Emileigha Jayne." He said, winking before saying my name. My chest fluttered for a moment and I was quiet for that short time.

"Oh r-" I was cut off by a sudden squeal and curly black hair flashed in front of me. Marlene.

I tried my best not to show that I was jealous or anything and watched as Marlene ran to Sirius, grabbing his shoulder.

This, if I may say, is my shoulder that I want to lay my head when I cry or fall asleep or anything!

"Sirius! There you are! Come on! We've got to go!" she screamed excitedly. Sirius looked surprised.

"What?" Sirius said, taking his arm out of her grasp. She put her hands on her hips and jumped up and down.

"We've got to go shopping! You know, for my dress? I guess you could get a tie or something." She said, giving him an incredulous look. Before Sirius could say anything, she was dragging him off the pitch. I sighed.

He turned the best he could and mouthed, "Sorry!" which matched his facial expression.

Great. I mean, me and Lily are going shopping as soon as I get a shower and get changed.

When I had to face some crazy girls in those Shopping Wars, I had totally forgotten to get a dress. That was stupid of me, I know.

I made my way back to the castle after putting my broom up. I went up to Ravenclaw tower and got some things out for my shower.

Afterwards, I brushed my teeth, blow dried my hair, and walked into my dorm in my panties and bra.

I totally could've gotten into Gryffindor. I mean, who else would be brave enough to do such a thing?

I put on a simple pair of jeans, a plain long-sleeved blue shirt, and a pair of grey boots.

I grabbed my purse, my jacket, and my wand and then headed to the Great Hall, where I met Lily. We hooked arms and caught a carriage out front. Just as it started to move, James grabbed the side of the entrance and hopped in, landing right next to Lily and almost falling in her lap.

"Alright, I made it!" He said, congratulating himself. I gave an approving nod and Lily smiled, patting his back.

Once he was situated, we started talking about dress shopping. But, with the year taking so many unexpected turns in a world of craziness, it wouldn't stay on that for long.

"Who's ready to go dress shopping?" I said in a sing-song tone, tucking a strand of her behind my ear. James pulled a face and Lily raised her hand happily.

"Me!" She nodded, nudging James.

"Well, I guess I am." James shrugged as Lily punched him in the arm, playfully. He kissed her cheek in a goofy manner and she laughed.

"Me and James are gonna go in red, I think. What about you? And who are you going to ask as a date?" Lily asked me. I thought for a minute.

Lockhart had tried to ask me to the dance, but I was still pretty mad at him. Plus, he acted the same as he always did. 'Hey there, Emi-Demi'….Ugh. Amos and I hadn't spoken in forever, and we probably wouldn't ever talk again. Daniel was going with some random girl, just like Marcus. Brandon, of course, was too shy to ask me anyways. And then Sirius was going with princess Marlene.

"I don't know- I might just go to this dance solo. Everyone else is pretty much taken. But that's alright with me. As for what I'll wear…I don't know that either. But something that makes me look like I have a longer…body. I'll have to wear heels too. God, I hate being short…" I said. Lily smirked and James nodded. I could tell he was a little uncomfortable- he's very easy to read.

"It's quite nice, being tall and such." James said. Lily nodded.

"It is, it is." She said in agreement. "And what about that peach colored dress you bought for the first dance?"

"Oh, I sold it. I sold it to Jenna. She really liked it, apparently, and she offered me the same amount I had paid for it." I winked, giving them a thumbs up.

"Ah. Nice. You know, I've always thought that shades of pink would look good on you." Lily pointed out, nodding.

"Yeah, sometimes that's what I think. But really I think the earthy tones look best on me." I said modestly, shrugging. James was lost in la-la land, his head bobbing around nonchalantly.

Lily glanced at him and rolled her eyes then turned back to me.

"Yeah, I agree." She smiled. Ashe nudged James as the carriage came to a stop. The three of us got out and silently walked to the closest dress shop. We were only quiet because just down the street from us was Sirius, along with Marlene and all of her girls.

My blood was starting to boil. James glanced over that way, then glanced back at Lily and I. What did James know about this whole mess, anyways?

We went inside and immediately Lily stopped us and grabbed our hands.

"Oh. My. Gosh. James! That one!" Lily squealed, pointing to a red dress covered in red sequins. It was quite charming! James stared at it for a minute, like he was imagining something. "Do you think it'll look good on me?" Lily asked hopefully. From behind her back, she was crossing her fingers.

James smiled and turned to her.

"Lily, I think that anything would look good on you." He said, looking her straight in the eyes with that same old grin. Aw! Why can't that happen to me?

I'll probably have to be a lonely cat lady when I grow up. And I don't even _like_ cats.

"Aw…" Lily pecked James's lips. "Thank-you, James. Your so sweet."

James smiled and touched his lips. Even though he and lily have been dating for a while, I still think that he can't get over it. That is just so cute.

"Now let's go pick out a tie for me, and then you can see how great you'll look in that dress." James said, his arm around Lily. She smiled and pulled the dress of the rack and they started to walk on, me trailing behind.

I couldn't get Marlene and Sirius out of my head. I kept picturing them kissing and laughing together and all kinds of crap. Then it felt like something hit me upside the head…

What if Sirius falls for Marlene?

Marlene isn't the best person, I'll be honest. But she's very pretty. No, she's gorgeous. Me? Notta. I'm not pretty at all. But is Sirius the kind of guy who only glances at how a girl looks? Does he care about a girl's personality?

Does he really love me, like he said he did?

He probably doesn't. Not anymore at least. You can fall out of love, can't you? I never said I loved him to his face. And I'm not ready for that kind of thing…I just don't even know anymore! I hate this.

But more than anything, I think I'm hating myself.

I should have told him how I felt. There's no denying that he likes Marlene. And who knows, maybe he loves her?

I let out a sigh that came out much shakier than I intended and…my eyes started to water. We can just say that they started to water. I ahd a really heavy feeling in my chest that was just killing me, but I perked up a little when the three of us passed another aisle of dresses.

"Hey, I'm gonna look at these. I'll see you in the Dressing Room, Lily." I smiled, pointing my thumb towards the aisle.

"Okay! Happy shopping." She said, looking a little worried. I hope my eyes aren't getting red…I don't want Lily or James to wonder about this…

I moseyed down the aisle and looked at all the dresses. There were mostly maxi dresses that looked kind of uncomfortable and things with long sleeves. It's cold outside, but the dance isn't outside- and it's pretty warm inside.

So here I am, shuffling through sequined dresses and maxi dresses and mini dresses and all of the sort, feeling a little stupid and very and very mad at myself. As if Rowena Ravenclaw granted me my happiness, I found _the _dress on another rack that was made for Valentine's day. Beside it were discount Christmas-themed dresses.

This dress came to my knees, just a bit above. It was a happy red and the bottom half was ruffled. The dress had tank-top sleeves that were kind of old fashioned, so they came out farther on your shoulders than normal ones. I didn't notice it at first, but there was a heart cut out on the back upper half of the dress.

The next thing I know, my mood is up-lifted a bit.

That is, until Marlene prances in. She walks past the cashier, winking at him and smirking as his face turns beet red. Meanwhile, I try to hide behind the rack I'm at, folding the dress in half. She was about to walk by when I hid behind a shelf on the next aisle over.

I breathe a sigh of relief and open my eyes only to let out a surprised squeal.

There's Marlene, right in front of me.

"Emileigha! Hi, girl!" She greets happily, flipping her black curls behind her shoulder. I picture myself doing the same thing as her, but more awkwardly. Fail. I immediately felt a sense of…I don't know, jealousy? A mix of that and self-consciousness.

"Hey, Marlene…" I said, trying to sound nice.

"I didn't think I'd see you here!" she said, smiling. For some reason, I felt that that smile was a total fake. But I couldn't just say something like 'get that stupid fake smile off your face, brat'. That would be awful. Plus, that's Lily's job.

"What do you mean?" I asked, laughing kind of nervously.

"People like you don't normally shop here." She said, still happy and smiley Marlene. What's that supposed to mean?

"Marlene, I'm afraid I don't follow you…" I trailed off. Suddenly, I felt shorter than I already was. Her happy smile melted right off and she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? All the pretty people shop here. Why are you even here?" she sneered, talking way too fast. It took me a minute to take everything in. Why is she suddenly acting like this? This was like a bad dream- not a nightmare, just a bad dream. I stared at Marlene, dumbstruck.

"Why are y-" I was cut off when she started to talk again.

"Let's just get to the point. You're in Ravenclaw, but I don't think you're going to crack the code any time soon. I know you like Sirius Black. Everyone knows that you do. And everyone thinks that he likes you, but I'm going to prove them wrong. Sirius likes me, not you. He likes pretty girls. And just so you know…you're a backstabber." Marlene said, flipping her hair one last time before she turned to leave. I stared after her and felt my eyes…water.

So today, I've been called ugly _and_ a backstabber.

A/N- Rate, Review, Love! Criticism welcome.(: Sorry that it's been a while since I've updated, dearest. (: Thank you, thank you, thank you!


	26. Us!

A/N- Here's Chapter 26, love! I hope you really, really like it!

I know I did. (;

Oh, and this Chapter is quite long...

Chapter 26-

What Marlene said really got me down. I could still remember what it felt like when she said all that mean stuff to my face. I hadn't told anyone- not Lily, James, Remus, Sev, Alice or anybody! Not even Sirius. For some reason, I felt like I should tell him. But you know what? Forget it.

It's all okay.

And it will stay that way.

Today wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. After all, the dance was tonight.

Lily was in my dorm, massaging her face with some moisturizing cream while sitting at my vanity. Jenna was in here to, currently in the shower.

I didn't mind it or really pay attention to it, but Jenna sings in the shower. I could hear her through the door. And, if you ask me, she's really not that bad.

I had just gotten out of the shower, my hair wrapped in a towel. I sat on my bed, looking through the latest issue of Quidditch Monthly.

I picked this magazine up every now and then. Sirius introduced it to me, actually. It's basically just full of posters and articles and stuff about the best Quidditch players, the hottest Quidditch players, and the worst Quidditch Players. A lot of time sit interviews them, and there's always a few pages dedicated to the new line of Quidditch accessories, including balls and brooms. Great read, it is.

The first page was only a picture of Sierra Anderson. She had short honey blonde hair and warm hazel eyes. She was very pretty. I looked under her interview column, and what a read made me feel a little bit better.

"_I used to get teased a lot when I went to school._

_All the other kids weren't so approving of a girl_

_who was five feet and six inches in her second_

_year. By seventh year, I was six feet. All my girl_

_friends encouraged me and told me I was pretty _

_and what not, which helped a little, but it wasn't_

_enough- you know, to make me feel beautiful. But_

_then I learned that it's really all about self-loving._

_Not being arrogant or anything, just accepting you_

_for you. You will always see yourself as a little less_

_prettier than someone really else sees you. You have_

_to love and accept yourself if you really want to be _

_beautiful. And now look at me- I'm six feet and 2 extra_

_inches, beautiful as ever."_

_-Sierra_

Bleh. That doesn't imply to all of us, does it? Well, maybe it does. With an exception of moi.

Lily glanced at me from the corner of her eye, which she kept doing. I pretended not to notice, but then she turned around and stared at me.

"Hm?" I asked, not looking up from my magazine.

"Emi, is there something wrong?" she asked seriously, not looking away from me or blinking or anything. I looked up at her and hesitated, but caught myself.

"No." I said. "Why?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Well, you've seemed a little blue. Me and James were going to say something on the ride back from Hogsmede, but we didn't want to find out that nothing was wrong and make you think that you looked sad." Lily explained, crossing her legs. I watched her for a minute, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"No, there's nothing wrong. Thank you for worrying though. And asking." I smiled, putting on the warmest one I could. I don't think she bought it, but she turned her chair back around and continued doing whatever it was exactly. It was silent for a moment, until Lily broke it.

"So what shoes are you wearing?" she asked, changing the entire subject. Relief washed over me and I smiled for real.

"Just a pair of normal felt black pumps. You?" I asked.

"Gold heels." She said, her mouth in the shape of an O as she applied some moisturizer around her mouth and cheeks.

"Cute. That dress looks really good on you!" I said, turning the page of my magazine and glancing at her. She smiled.

"Thanks. I haven't seen yours on you, yet. Did anyone ask you to the dance?" she questioned, pinning her hair in a messy bun. She plugged in her own curling iron and waited for it to heat up. Here's Lily, getting herself all dolled up. And here's me, in my bathrobe, sitting on my butt and reading a magazine, hair still wet. Hm.

"Yeah, a guy in his fourth year. I can't remember his name though…" I said. He really had- it was a guy with really fluffy blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, a few inches taller than me. He wasn't built like James or Sirius- he was really thin. I don't think he told me his name, honestly.

"And you said no? Saving yourself for Sirius?" she winked. Lily knew about Marlene going with him, but she said that he probably didn't want to hurt her feelings and that they'd probably only dance once.

"Well, actually think that he just didn't tell me his name. But yeah, I said no. It would be kind of weird to just dance with somebody who's name I didn't even know. And…yeah. You guessed it." I said, giving a slight laugh. Lily nodded sincerely. I think she bought it.

"You guys are so cute…" Lily sighed dreamily. I furrowed my brows.

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning the page of my magazine again. I didn't even read the page I was on before, though.

"Well…you know, you guys are just cute. You act like you don't like him, even though most of us know you do, and Sirius is head over heels for you. He follows you around like a lost puppy, Emi." Lily smiled. Right. He's head over heels for me- which is why he's going to dance with Marlene and not me. I stared down at my red-painted nails for a minute.

Alright, that's wrong of me…I can't blame him for this mess. Is it _my_ fault?

It has to be my fault! Did I say something rude to Marlene? Or did she imply that this ordeal was because of my decline to her offer of joining her group of friends? I can't even remember! Godric!

"Sirius- head over heels for me?" I said to myself. Lily must have thought I was talking to her.

"Pssh! Yes, of course! I guess you don't ever really notice…because you're not looking…but he's always looking at you. Not to make him sound like a creeper or anything- he's just always, well, watching you. Kind of like he's making sure you don't get into any trouble." Lily laughed. "And you know how our last hour class isn't with Sirius or James now? I heard Sirius begging James to go that you- so he could be around you! Their class is clear on the other side of Hogwarts." She explained. I felt my face go pink.

"W-why does he like _me_ of all people?" I asked, slightly harsher than I intended it to be. Lily ignored it and only shook her head.

"Surely you know!" she smiled. At that exact moment, Jenna hurried out of the shower and started getting ready in a snap. I put my magazine on the bedside table and went into the bathroom to dry my hair.

When I came out, Lily's hair was curled and she was ready. Jenna was already gone.

"Mind if I check out your magazine? I'm not big on Quidditch, but I need something to pass the time." She smiled. I nodded and got my dress out of closet. I carefully slipped it on and flattened all the creases. I quickly stepped into my heels and then I took a seat at my vanity.

I pinned my hair in a neat bun, a few curls falling around my face. I put on some pretty red lipstick and then I spritzed some body spray on. This stuff only took about thirty minutes.

"Alright, Lily, are you ready?" I asked. She stood up, stretched, and nodded.

"Yup. You look fabulous." She said. We linked arms and left my dorm, made our way through the crowded common room, and headed to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was the room where the big event was held, also where you could find the punch and snacks and the soundtrack list. The room beside it, which we commonly just called the Half Hall (It's seriously about half the size of the Great Hall), was where everyone just hung around and talked.

I didn't realize it, but we were kind of late. The Great Hall was crowded (and the Half Hall was mostly empty) and the music was blaring. In the far left corner of the Great Hall was Sirius- who, oddly enough, was wearing a gold sequined shirt under a blazer. He looked cute…but it wasn't meant for him. He's a nerdy kind of dresser, not a chic/profiling dresser. That was definitely Marlene's doing. Marlene herself was in a long gold sequined dress that had a slit on the side so you could see her leg when she took a step. Her hair was down, straight and sleek. The rest of the girls around her, who actually followed her every step, were close to the same.

Within minutes, Lily was whisked away with Alice and her other friends, leaving me to stand alone. That is, until Daniel motioned for me to come over to himself, Marcus, and Brandon.

"Hey, guys." I smiled. Don't you all look handsome?" Brandon's face got red, along with Marcus'.

"We do, we do…But it's obvious that I'm the one who look the hottest." Daniel said.

"I didn't say anyone was hot, Daniel!" I shook my head, lightly punching him in the arm. He laughed and took a sip out of his cup.

"You better save us each a dance, Lupin." Daniel winked. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, I will." I said, nodding.

"I'm serious, push away all those other guys. Me first." He said, jabbing his thumb into his chest.

"Okay, okay!" I laughed. Brandon and Marcus looked around awkwardly, while Daniel kept striking different poses.

After a conversation about Quidditch, and how we were definitely going to win the House Cup, I dove into the crowd again. But the next thing I know, I'm dancing with Gideon Prewett, who just so happens to twirl me around until I bump into his brother, Fabian. Fabian dips backwards and I'm cast off to Daniel- actually taken by Daniel- as a slow songs tarts to play.

I look at Daniel with a close eye.

"Daniel, do you even know how to dance?" I asked, laughing as he nearly tripped. I moved my feet just in time before he could step on them, but I had to constantly look down. He laughed.

"Nope! Care to teach me? You seem like you know what you're doing." He chuckled.

"Alright, just follow my lead…" He nodded. "1...2...3...1…2…3…1…2…3…" I repeated this a series of times until he finally got it right without my help.

"I'm pretty good at this!" He said, complimenting himself. I giggled and we danced in a happy sort of silence until the song was over. Daniel patted my shoulder.

"Thanks, champ." Daniel said, waving a 'see-you-later'. I did the same and smiled. Then, I was back in the crowd, dancing with random people, drinking punch, until someone bumped into me from behind. I turned around only to find Marlene staring at me, her eyes burning a hole through me. I was speechless, and when I was about to say something, she cut me off.

"Hm, so you actually showed up." she sneered. She looked me up and down and frowned. I was quiet. "That looks like something you'd wear in the forties." She said, shaking her head. I didn't know what to say, so I just let her go on. "And you try and wear some make-up for once. Maybe then you won't look as dreadful as usual." Marlene's make-up was caked on. I mean…

_Pan-cake._

I stood there, trying to keep my mouth closed. She took up the opportunity to end the conversation by saying one last thing.

"Wouldn't everything be easier if you had decided to be _my_ friend, and not Lily's?" With that said, she turned on her heel and walked away from me. I took a deep breath in and almost crushed my punch cup. Lily glanced at me- she was a few crowds over. I think she'd seen the whole scene.

Honestly, I wanted to cry. And I almost did, but somehow I managed to keep myself…normal. I shuffled through the crowds of people and made my way through the Half Hall. I quickly paced through a few halls, down a few corridors, and up a few flights of stairs.

Finally, I came to a door I was quite familiar with. I slowly opened it and slipped inside, sighing in relief to see the Mirror of Erised.

When you looked into the Mirror of Erised, you could see what you wanted most in the world. Your greatest desires.

I came here whenever I really wanted to see my Mum. When is aw her, she was always with Dad and Remus. I was never there. I clenched my fists and stepped in front of the mirror after looking out the window, which was covered in a frosty glaze. When I looked into the Mirror I didn't see my Mum and Dad and Remus, though…

I saw Sirius.

At first, Sirius smiled and put his arm around me. We were smiling, and laughing, and then…We kissed. It was a quick kiss, but more than a peck on the lips. Then something changed and Sirius held my hand- but I really felt it. I looked down at my hand, and found that my fingers were intertwined with, as I discovered as I looked up, Sirius' fingers- the actual, real life Sirius.

He looked at me sincerely and then to the mirror. Finally, back at me.

"What're you doing in here?" he asked. I glanced at the mirror and then back at him.

"Nothing…" I said after a moment, letting go of his hand. He shook his head.

"What's wrong, Em? You can tell me anything. And don't say that nothing is wrong…" he said worriedly. I shook my head.

"Nothing's wrong." I said, not being able to look into his stormy grey eyes.

"Em, I know you. You think that if you tell someone what's wrong when your sad or hurt or something, you'll just cause them trouble. Trust me- it won't happen. Ever. Just tell me. Do you feel bad? Did someone say something?" he asked, putting his hands on my shoulders.

I finally cracked- a tear or two slipped…and then I couldn't stop and I just let a whole river flow. Sirius pulled me to his chest and stroked my hair.

"It's alright…Shh…" he whispered. He kissed the top of my head. "Just tell me…"

"Lily a-and Marlene got into a fight or something…A-and then Marlene wanted me to be her number one or something… and I-I said that we were-were friends, but you can't just make that stuff happen…" Sirius nodded gently. "And after that she acted like a normal friend…A-And now suddenly she hates me… "

"Did she say something?" he asked quietly. I sniffled and he used his thumb to wipe a tear form my cheek, even though more were coming out anyways. It took me a minute, but I wiped my eyes and slightly collected myself. I was able to talk without sniffling for a few minutes.

"She came up to me...and said some stuff like normal…and then suddenly she acted like she hated me…and she said some more stuff…and called me…ugly...and a backstabber…And she's still doing that…She just did…And I don't why!" I started crying again. My arms, which were at my side since I'd gotten into the room, were suddenly around Sirius. I hardly even noticed it. I just buried my face into his shoulder-the shoulder that I wanted to cry on whenever I needed it- and cried. I cried so hard that I had the hiccups for a second, but then I felt nauseous and then I just kept crying.

Sirius went kind of stiff when I held onto him and he didn't hold me as tight. I sniffed, wiped my eyes and looked up at him.

He looked down at me, his cheeks slightly pink.

"…Em… I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that kind of crap to you. You're the nicest person ever. It's really hard, but believe me- you can't let it get to you. I know how that is- my whole family hates me. I've learned to ignore it." He said. I thought about it for a minute and nodded, wiping my eyes, which Sirius later did for me. " You, especially, shouldn't listen to that stuff."

I glanced up at him curiously, but put my head on his chest again.

"What do you mean?" I sniffed, my voice muffled. Sirius shook his head and pulled away from me, holding my shoulders. We stared into each other's eyes for a minute, not talking, not moving. And for a minute, it was like everything was perfect. There was nothing wrong what-so-ever.

Before I could say something and break the silence, my eyes widened and my face was definitely red. A burning, tingling sensation went through me and my lips were, like, numb…

Sirius Orion Black just kissed me. On the lips.

He pulled away and put his hand on my cheek, wiping one last tear.

"I don't think she hates you. Nobody could hate you, I promise. Your never mean… if you were going to be mean to anyone, it would be to me, because I'm mean. That's one of my many flaws. You, Emileigha, have none. Zero! And she called you ugly? Even _I'm_ shocked that somebody would say that, because you're the most beautiful girl in the world. I swear to God you are. I know I'm not the only one who thinks you are, either- which does happen to drive me bloody insane. Don't ever think you aren't pretty, love. You are. Your gorgeous! And a backstabber? You're my best friend. You've never done anything to me. Lily is your best friend. You've never done anything to her. You didn't do anything to Marlene. It's her problem, actually, that she's fighting with Lily…she really shouldn't bring it to you. That was a good thing to do- say that you guys were still friends, but being best-friends took time. It's not even worth it, to be her friend, if Marlene is going to do this to you. And I think you knew that. But you're a people-pleaser, Em, and you didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Hell, sometimes it's a crime to be so sweet." He explained gingerly, smiling. His hand fell to my hand and his fingers intertwined with mine.

I didn't know what to do, so a smile just came to my lips. I still had a few tears in my eyes.

"Have you ever worried about what you want?" he asked curiously. I shook my head. "Well…You've been in here before, haven't you? Looked in the Mirror of Erised?"

"Yeah." I said. Had Sirius been in here?

"What do you see?" he asked. I was quiet and my eyes darted all around the cold room. After a couple of minutes, I looked back at him.

"Sometimes I see Remus, my dad, and my mum. Sometimes I see Remus without his werewolf problem. And once I saw Lily and James with a little boy. They were all really happy." I kind of smiled at the last one. Maybe that'll come true, someday. Sirius even smiled.

"As nice as that must be, you only see people. You only see people who are happy- but you're not there... What did you see tonight? You looked, didn't you?" He asked, brushing my hair behind my shoulder for me. I froze for a second, staring into the mirror. I just saw me and Sirius, together. Was that our real reflection, though? Or was it what I'd seen in the mirror before?  
"It's okay if you don't want to share, love." Sirius smiled, squeezing my hand. "Do you want to know what I see?" he asked, turning to the mirror. I nodded.

"I see a beautiful girl with far-set greenish grey eyes and copper hair, in a really cute red dress. And then beside her, holding her hand, I see a pretty nice-looking guy" –he winked at this- "with grey eyes and wavy black hair, in a really stupid shirt." He laughed at his own joke and kissed my cheek. "We're holding hands. And every now and then, you kiss my cheek. That's all I see." He gave one last big smile and squeezed my hand again before letting go. I was silent, looking at the floor.

"Well," He started after a good six or seven minutes of silence, "I'm gonna go up to the Common Room, love. You can come if you want. Take your time. If you decide to come, the password's 'Chocolate Froggy'. Marlene hasn't even talked to me since we've been here. And she actually went with her boyfriends. I'm not misisng anything." he joked, turning to leave. Before he could touch the doorknob, I grabbed his hand.

"I see us, too." I said, almost in a whisper.

"R-really?" He asked, his cheeks getting darker ocne again. I could feel mine burning pink, too. I nodded gently.

"Could you do me a favor, Sirius?" I asked. He nodded.

"Anythig for you, Em." he smiled assuringly. "What is it?"

"Well...you know how during the last dance, we were at the Balck Lake? And we didn't dance?"

"Yes..."

"And this dance...Well, we didnt get to go together..." I said. He nodded again, still blushing. "Will you dance with me?" I smiled up at him. He gave a very happy smile, and took a step back.

"Miss Lupin, may I have this dance?" he asked, bowing. I curtseyed.

"I'd be very much obliged, Mr. Black." He took a step forward and put his hands on my waist. I put my arms around his neck (my heels gave me an extra height boost) and layed my head on his chest.

And there we were, dancing together. I smiled, blushing even harder as Sirius kissed my forehead and laughed.

"You are an excellent dancer, Miss Lupin. And might I say that you look ever so lovely tonight, but as well as every other moment." he whispered.

I looked up at him, laughed, and kissed his cheek.

A/N- This was so much fun to write! I hope you liked it! Thank you for your Reviews! Godric Bless!

Rate, Review, Love! Thanks, dearest! (:


	27. A Little too Crazy!

A/N- Here's Chapter 27! Wow!

I can't believe I've gone so far. To those of you who have stuck with Em from the beginning, thank-you. To those of you, who have read even just one chapter, thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me that someone would want to read my story, and even review it. Thank you so much. (:

No then, let's get this show on the road, darling!

Chapter 27-

"NO! You don't understand, I can't do this! Please! Lily, tell them! Please, please, please!" James cried loudly, nodding his head to Sirius, Madame Pomfrey, and me.

Sirius was holding James down, basically, even though he was perched with his arm under him and his other arm under him on his side. Lily rolled her eyes, really irritated. Madame Pomfrey stood a few feet away, a slightly bewildered look on her face. I'd do the same.

Sirius laughed and I nudged him where he was ticklish. 'Stop!' I mouthed. He just laughed again.

"James Potter, quit being a baby and act like a man! You're 16 years old, not seven!" Lily hissed. Sirius snickered. He found this so funny, why? I shook my head.

"Yeah, James! Toughen up!" Sirius said, pinching James' cheek in slow motion. James gave him the death glare, and I couldn't help but laugh. I lightly punched Sirius in the arm and he shook his head this time.

"Emileigha, this is a Sirius matter. He needs to act like a man. Like me." He said with a straight face. He finally cracked a grin. I love that kind of humor…

"You are so mean." I said, shaking my head. He laughed.

Meanwhile, while Sirius and I were in our own little world, James took a deep breath.

"Okay, okay, let's just get this over with!" James cried, squeezing his eyes shut.

Madame Pomfrey walked over in relief and James let out a deep squeal, which apparently meant that Sirius had to let go of him and wipe the tears out of his eyes.

"Oh my gosh…" he mumbled, still laughing. I rolled up my magazine and lightly hit his thigh.

"Bad boy." I said. Sirius laughed harder, even though it wasn't that funny. He leaned over and gave me a wet- yes, wet- kiss on the cheek.

"Ah! Ew!" I said, wiping my cheek. Sirius smirked.

"Pay back." Sirius said.

"What did I do to you?" I asked, giving him an incredulous look.

"You hit me with that thingy!" He said, pointing to my magazine. "Wait a minute…What magazine is that?" he asked, slightly shocked. "That's not Quidditch Monthly! That's…Emileigha Jayne Lupin! Is that Play-Witch Magazine?" Sirius gasped.

"Wha-" I was cut off by James crying. Not crying tears, just…well, not even crying. He let out one big yell.

"Alright, that's it!" Madame Pomfrey said quickly, trying to be her usually peppy self. Even she was surprised at James' behavior. James was grumbling and whining as we left the infirmary. Sirius kept laughing and poking at me about the magazine. I rolled my eyes for the millionth time and looked to James and Lily. Lily looked…oh, I don't know. Steamy?

Her arms were crossed and her cheeks were a red that almost matched her hair.

When we were outside, under a tree by the black lake, under the tree the Marauders always sat under, we started talking again.

"James, flu shots aren't as bad as you seem to portray them." I said, smirking along with Sirius. Lily snorted.

"He portrays them worse than bad! I mean, he was kicking and screaming when he found out he had to get one! And Sirius had to bloody carry him from the common room to the infirmary!" Sirius tapped my shoulder as Lily paused and mouthed her next words, knowing what she was going to say. "I am so disappointed in you, James Potter!"

I busted out laughing with Sirius. He had the hand on the hip thing down and all. Lily rolled her eyes at us.

"Sirius could barely even carry him!" She sneered, trying to make Sirius mad. Sirius quit laughing and pretended to look hurt.

"Oh come on now, you know that's not true." He said, flattering himself with the same expression on his face.

"I don't know, Siri. You _are_ kind of wimpy." I winked, shrugging. Sirius gasped, still pretending.

"Wimpy?" he said, eyes going slightly wide. "I am _not_!"

"Prove it!" I said, sticking my tongue out at him. Lily and James started bickering, so we were in our own world. This was the same world we'd been in most of the day…the land of flirting like children, if you're wondering.

Sirius rolled his white button-up shirt sleeves to his shoulders, then he flexed for me. Sirius has never been that bad looking to me (or to anyone else, apparently)…and this was proof of it. He looked really good today, though- not just because of his awesome muscles though. I didn't even know it, but I guess the after shave thing on a guy gets me. Sirius looked like he needed to shave, but at the same time he didn't- unkempt, but very well-kept. And his cologne was really making me woozy (in a good way, of course). I couldn't help but be very…attracted to him. I hoped that he was attracted to me, but since it was Tuesday, we all had our school uniforms on and I couldn't show off my mad fashion skills.

I clapped a few times and smirked.

"Okay, okay- so you're not that wimpy." I said, beckoning him to sit beside me. It was finally spring, and the landscape was beautiful. Butterflies were starting to come out, and flowers were starting to bloom. There was an unusual, massive amount of Daffodils by the Lake. Sirius picked one and put it behind my ear before replying.

"I am the strongest man in the world." He said seriously, putting his jacket back on. I nodded, picking a daffodil and putting it behind his ear, too.

"There, now we match." I said in the same tone he had before.

"Do I look pretty?" he asked. I nodded. How is it possible to have such a serious goofy moment?

"Very pretty. Which reminds me, for some reason, are you going to California with us?" I asked, smiling. Sirius lay on his back and patted the grass beside him of me to do the same.

"Of course, love." He smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." I looked at him curiously. He had a plan- I could sense it. "Oh, I was going to get you to take a romantic walk in the sunset with me." He winked.

"That's cheesy, but I like your tactics." I pointed out. He chuckled.

"I'll be sure to work on that. And I'll take that as a yes." He nodded. We were both quiet for a minute when he broke the silence. "So… Next year we finally get to start that thing in Muggle Studies."

"Yeah! It's taking a long time, isn't it?" I said. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Too bad I still can't cook." He laughed at himself. "So you're going to get a flat with Lily. Are you guys going to kill each other? That's how I feel when I stay the night at James' house and he won't go to sleep while we're in bed." Sirius said, almost emotionless. I looked at him and furrowed my brows.

"What?" I asked awkwardly. He glanced at me and I could tell what he was thinking. 'Why did I just say that?'

"Well, yeah. You know that I stay the whole summer at his house every year. I sleep in his bed when his aunt comes to stay, which is the first month of summer. Every five minutes it's 'Sirius are you still awake? I can't sleep. Do you think Lily loves me? I hope she does!' and it drives me insane. So I did the same to him once, except I didn't use Lily's name, and he pushed me off the bed." He explained, smiling happily. He didn't see me, but I smiled. "I'm sorry, love. You probably don't want to hear my random stories." He apologized. I glanced at him and smiled again.

"I love hearing your stories. I'd listen to them every day." I said.

What if we told each other about our day, every day, after getting home from work or something and…Ah! No, no, no! Don't think about Marriage, Emileigha! He's not even your boyfriend…

"Really? It sounds like we have a great summer ahead of us…darling." He smiled.

"Oh, I know we do, love. It'll be… gob-smacking." I said. "Have you ever been to the U.S.?" I asked.

"No. The only other country - well, I guess- I've been to Wales. Have you been there?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, yeah. It's beautiful." I said. My Mum was Welsh. "I mean, I can't remember it- I was like three when we went- but I have pictures." I added.

"'We'?" Sirius asked. I nodded.

"My Mum was Welsh. I never told you? Whoops. But yeah, up until she passed away, we went every year for Christmas, since all of her family was there." I said.

"Ah, I see." He nodded. "And I wanted to talk to you about someth-" Sirius was cut off by Lily.

"Hey, are you two love birds coming or what?" she called to us. I sat up and turned to look at her. Sirius stayed on his back.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Lily did the eyebrows thing before replying.

"Lunch!" she said, putting her hand on her stomach as I clicked my tongue.

"Oh. Food sounds pretty good right now. What about you?" I asked, turning to Sirius.

"Ah, I'm good for now. You can go ahead, I'll be in later." He said, sitting up. He tapped my chin and clicked his tongue, too.

"If you say so." I said unsurely, a little oblivious to his action, standing up. Lily linked arms with me and we walked back to the castle, James lagging behind us, rubbing his arm. I turned and waved bye to Sirius, who returned the favor.

"Ooo!" Lily said. I church-pinched her and felt my cheek heat up.

"Lily! Shut it! Nothing's happening, anyways." I said, unable to look at her. She laughed and jerked away, rubbing her arm.

"Oh, come now- I can feel it. Something big happened. What is it?" Lily asked, squeezing my arm.

"Nothing happened, Lily!" she looked at me like I was stupid for a second. "Nothing!" I squealed as we entered the Great Hall. There were still a few balloons and a few streamers from the Dance, even though it's almost April now. Which also means that it's almost the end of term!

Lily and I sat down at the Gryffindor table (James went off somewhere rather than sitting with us) and we were immediately eating random sweets. I don't think we ever even eat regular food…

"Okay, so we have some things to talk about." Lily said. I nodded. "The play. The auditions are in four days. It'll be held about a week or two before term is over."

"Whoa! I totally forgot about that! Which one won?" I asked. I secretly crossed my fingers for Othello under the table.

"Romeo and Juliet." Lily said with a 'that's-too-bad' look on her face. I grimaced. That play really is over-used.

"But that's the one that everyone does!" I whined. Lily nodded in agreement.

"I know, but we can't change it." She said. "But auditions are coming up. Are you in?"

I shook my head.

"No, not this time." I slammed my fists down on the table and stared at the gold plate in front of me, then looked up at her dramatically. "My dreams have been crushed."

Lily rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I'm going to get James to audition for something awesome. Romeo, or Montague, or Capulet." She said eagerly.

"Ah, so you would audition for Juliet, Lady Montague, or Lady Capulet?" I asked. Lily's cheeks were suddenly tinted pink and I laughed.

"Yeah…" she said. "I just thought that maybe this would let everyone know that James and I are a couple. Everyone always thought that I hated him and that he flirted with me just because, but…now look at us. I really love James." She smiled brightly, looking at her hands.

"I really love food." I smiled. "And someday I'll have to love cats."

Lily looked at me and I knew I had ruined the moment.

"But anyways! That's sweet. I wish my love life was cool like yours. But it's not. Mine's whack." I shook my head, shoving a whole cookie into my mouth. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"I've noticed." She leaned in closer. "Did something good happen between you guys?"

I immediately felt my face go red.

"No. Why?" I asked. Lily shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you two are just acting so…I don't know- childish- around each other. But when I say childish, I…Agh! I just don't know! You're both more quiet and subtle than usual." She snapped her fingers. "I bet that's how you two act when you're alone."

"I didn't even notice…" I laughed awkwardly. I'm such a bad liar- but whatever. "And I wouldn't know that either. We aren't alone as much as I wish we were."

Lily laughed after my last words.

"Why do you want to be alone?" she winked.

"Lily!" I said, picking up on the joke.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. Inside joke." She snickered. I playfully kicked her under the table. "But really, what happened between you two?" she asked again. I sighed.

"Lily, I'm telling you, nothing happened between us." I said. Lily groaned.

"Fine…If you say so. But just so you know, your face is really red." She cracked a smile. "Oh, it just got even redder!" she giggled. I put my hands over my face and shook my head.

"Lily!" I whined. "Stop it!"

"Okay, okay…" she laughed as I shook my head again. Lily's laughter was cut off as someone else's laugh interrupted her own.

Before I could do anything, my hands were pushed down, I was turned in my seat, and my hair was being braided. Lily was getting the same treatment. Lots and lots of giggles flowed from behind us, and an unusually strong scent of cheap perfume was choking me. My eyes widened in surprise and I couldn't say anything for a few minutes. I glanced at Lily, who looked about like me.

"Um…" I started, not knowing what to say. "Who goes there?" Everyone behind Lily and I giggled, which was way too obnoxious for my standing, and I knew that they were all girls. Girls like Marlene. Girls who could be Marlene and her friends.

"Silly! It's me, Marlene." Marlene said goofily, giggling with her girls afterwards. My hair was done by then, and she put the braid over my shoulder. I watched the daffodil Sirius put in my hair fall to the floor, and I would have picked it up had it not been for Marlene picking it up instead. Lily's was done just after mine and we turned back around. I frowned.

"What do you want?" Lily asked coldly. I swear that there was suddenly an eerie chill in the room. And that's saying something because the Great Hall is larger than large.

"I wanted to apologize for being so mean to you guys. You know how us girls are…Constantly acting like we're on our periods. PMS-ing." Marlene hummed, throwing the daffodil over her shoulder. My blood almost boiled, but I was able to stay calm. The rest of her girls nodded and whispered in agreement. She turned to them darkly "Shut up, I'm trying to talk!" she said, rolling her eyes. Lily raised her eyebrows as the girls did as they were told. Gosh.

I could tell Marlene wasn't actually apologizing. This was her own special way of saying 'I'll give you a second chance', just without us knowing…even though I think Lily and I both caught on. A devious smirk played at her lips and judging by the way her eyebrow was arched, I knew she was up to something. Looks like we're the victims, again. And most of 'us girls' act civilized when we're not on our periods…

"I know, you probably don't believe me, but I swear to God that I'm being honest. I really am sorry. I shouldn't have acted like a little witch, Lily. And I shouldn't have shattered your self-esteem, Emileigha." Marlene said. Okay, so her original intention- when she totally hated me for some reason- was to shatter my self-esteem? Even I didn't know that. I thought she was trying to convince me that I wasn't the girl for Sirius… Which would shatter my self-esteem, considering that it actually did…Right. "I feel really bad about it. I really, really do. So, to make it up to you two, I decided to have a little slumber party this Friday."

"Actually, it was Claire who came up with the idea…" Briley said quietly, her head down. Marlene shot her an evil glare, clenching her jaw tight.

"Shut. Up." she growled. Briley's eyes widened slightly and she sunk down a bit. Marlene turned back to us. "Anyways…" she rolled her eyes at Briley, though she was facing us. "You two are invited. You're the stars of the show." She smiled brightly. Somehow I managed to see through it. "We'll do make-overs, we'll gossip, eat some junk food, and afterwards we'll play a harmless little game of truth-or-dare."

Lily and I looked at each other uneasily.

"What, do you need to talk about it?" Marlene laughed jokingly. Well…

"Yeah, exactly. One second." Lily said. We huddled together, ignoring Marlene's slightly surprised face.  
"This is crazy…But I think we should go." Lily whispered to me. My brows furrowed and yet I wondered if my eyes were coming close to bulging out of my head.

"What? Are you insane? Marlene is she-devil." I warned her. Lily nodded in consideration and continued as I listened intently.

"Look, I just want to go so I can see what goes on in their life. Plus, I wanna see how Marlene treats you. Oh-" she smirked evilly at this, "I'd also just love to dare Marlene in a game of truth or dare. Harmless, she says." Lily explained. There was a kind of twinkle in her eyes that honestly freaked me out. This wasn't the usual Lily. And I wasn't too fond of this new Lily.

Unfortunately, like it often happens, I fell victim to not only Marlene's attack, but also to Lily's word.

"Alright…"

Things just got a little too crazy.

A/N- Thanks! Rate, Review, Love! Oh, and I have a new poll up! The story depends on your vote, if you'd be so kind as to visit my profile page! *Just a click away*


	28. Marlene's Sleep-Over

A/N- Here we are! Chapter 28! Sorry it's been ages since I've updated! I've just been so busy!

Well, I hope you enjoy it! Make sure you review and follow if you like! Haha!

Thanks, love!

-_**siriuslybritish**_

Chapter 28-

"Greetings, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Today, I have lots of news." Professor Binns said in his usual monotone. He glanced at Sirius, who was paying attention to me more than anything else today…like every other day. "And Mr. Black, could you please move your arm from around Miss Bla- I mean, Miss Lupin?" he said. My eyes widened and my face got so red (I could tell because it was suddenly a million degrees in the room). Everyone snickered, except me, Lockhart, Xeno, and Daniel. I glanced at Sirius out of the corner of my eye. He was grinning with complete, which made me blush even more.

I wanted to escape into a hole and live there forever, and become 100 percent antisocial.

"But I-" Sirius started, scooting closer to me. He was cut off by Professor Binns.

"Mr. Black, _please _keep your arms with yourself." He said, raising his eyebrows. You never saw that happen. Sirius looked at him with a let-down expression.

"Why?" he asked. I turned my head towards him and burned daggers into the side of his face, which wasn't making him feel any less uncomfortable.

This was annoying me just as much as it was Professor Binns. Sirius was just doing that to get laughs out of our classmates.

"Because I will not tolerate those kinds of things in my classroom. I don't care if you do it and I can't see it- just don't let me see it. Do you understand me?" he asked sternly. His monotone was gone for just a second, but it'd be back soon I bet.

"Could you make it-" Sirius asked pleadingly. I elbowed him in the side.

"Shut up!" I hissed under my breath. Sirius was quiet after that. Professor Binns looked at me thankfully and continued teaching. He kept looking back at Sirius, though.

I caught Sirius smirking two more times in amusement as Professor Binns carried on.

"Anyways." He glared at Sirius. "There's been a mistake counting votes for the play fifth year is supposed to put on. You see, there were a few left in the box that weren't counted. Those votes didn't belong to Romeo and Juliet, but they did belong to…err…" He turned to his very neat desk and shuffled a few pieces of parchment. Finding the one he needed, he looked at us all again. "'Pretty Woman.'" he looked at all of us as if he were expecting someone to know what that was. I was immediately sulking. Lily looked over at me while I crossed my arms and frowned in dissatisfaction. Why can't Othello be our Fellow?

"What's that?" someone in the back of the room asked. When Professor Binns wasn't looking, Sirius twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. I slapped his hand down on the desk.

"I will never sit by you again, Sirius Orion Black." I whispered. Sirius chuckled.

"Oh, come on, love. I think you like all this affection." Sirius whispered back.

"Nope." I shook my head. Sirius leaned a little closer.

"This is what our life would be like." He said. My face turned beet red again.

"_Our _life?" I repeated.

"Right. Our future life as boyfriend and girlfriend." He paused and smirked. "I'm quite affectionate…you haven't seen anything just yet, love."

I didn't say anything after that. I just thought.

Sirius is always putting his arm around me, kissing my cheek, trying to hold my hand, or something. I consider that very affectionate. And even though I felt like I would be even more annoyed than usual…

I kind of wanted his affection…

Professor Binns continued after shuffling through some more papers.

"The description here says: The March daughters- tomboyish Jo, gorgeous Meg, romantic Amy, and sickly Beth- start to come of age while their father is off to war. They each learn to be thankful for what they have, and to be thankful for everyone around them, as they travel through life." Professor Binns read.

Othello sounds way better. Just saying.

"Now then, I am aware that most of you are accustomed to having auditions for a play. That's what we'll be doing, of course. Auditions are next week, Sunday through Saturday. Once we've found all the people we need, the results will be posted in each common room." he said.

After an hour or so of me pouting and not bothering to listen to what else Mr. Binns had to say, the bell rung. Lily caught up with me as I made my way out the door.

"Little Women." Lily said. "What do you think?"

"I wanted Othello!" I cried, puffing my bottom lip out. Lily half smiled.

"Sorry. But hey, I've read Little Women before! My Mum brought it back to me after she and Dad went to The Sates." Lily said. I nodded. "It's really good! I'll let you borrow it sometime. And maybe you'll learn to like it."

"I don't know. But yeah, it did sound kind of good. Thanks." I said, fixing my cross-body bag. Lily ran a hand through her hair and smiled. We both turned the corner in silence.

James and Sirius were lagging behind us- something they always did to make sure we weren't murdered or something. I tuned into their conversation- but don't call it eavesdropping, consider it overhearing- and I think Lily did too.

"Alright, mate, I'll give you 5 galleons if you can make it." Sirius said to James. James laughed.

"Deal." He said, sounding sure of himself. The four of us made our way to Divination, then.

After we climbed up the step ladder and entered the musty-smelling classroom, we took our usual seats. Sirius behind me, Lily three seats over, and James across the room.

Lily and I watched as Sirius crumpled up a piece of parchment and threw it over to James, who caught it and took a place at the back of the room. That's when I caught on- they were betting over paper basketball.

With one jump, James threw the parchment wad to the trashcan and made it.

"OH YEAH!" he shouted his words making the whole room go silent.

"Hey, my best mate just made that shot. Clap, why don't you?" Sirius yelled, standing up and clapping. Everyone else laughed and clapped along and James ran around giving people high-fives. Sirius pulled a black leather wallet with a crimson S on it and handed James five galleons.

Lily rolled her eyes and started scribbling down some stuff on a piece of parchment, even though we didn't have any notes to copy down. I pulled out my dream journal something we were all forced to keep this year, and wrote down my last dream in as much detail as possible. Professor Twinkle waltzed in, humming nonchalantly and blinking behind her crazy glasses.

"Won't this be enjoyable…" I heard Lily mumble. I laughed to myself and phased in and out of class.

Fridays are normally supposed to be awesome, since they lead to weekends, but this Friday wasn't a great one in particular. First off, Lily and I had Marlene's sleep over to attend to tonight. Then next week we have OWLS. I'm not sure which one will kill me, honestly.

What could Marlene possibly do to us this time? Probably something that'd end up with me and Lily wanting to just rip everyone's hair out, including our own. Sirius and James told us that we shouldn't go, and I told Lily that we shouldn't, but Lil wants to mess with Marlene…And I can't just leave Lily alone with Marlene! And another thing; what if Marlene and her girls start up a whole new girl drama dilemma? Oh dear Godric.

We are so stupid.

For the rest of the day, I let those thoughts swim around my head. They almost drove me insane…but there's something about Sirius braiding my hair that calmed me. I was surprised that he was just as good as me, considering that he's a _16 year old boy_, and they don't normally braid hair.

"You have such beautiful hair, love." Sirius kept telling me.

A while after classes were over, Lily and I went to her dorm in the Gryffindor Common room.

"So, I just realized that Marlene's dorm would be in here…Did she move or something?" I asked while we were changing.

"Yeah, she flirted with one of the Professors and got him to give her a room with her dolls." Lily said, rolling her eyes. Lily went into the bathroom to change clothes; meanwhile, I just changed in her dorm, since no one else was in there. I took my shirt off and I flexed in the mirror. I don't know what I was doing… it just happened. I even went as far as to turn around and check out my bum.

I heard a door open, and I assumed Lily had come out of the bathroom. However, the room was quiet. The next thing I know, there's another person looking in the mirror with me.

There's Marlene, standing right beside me.

My face immediately goes red and I just stand there. What was I supposed to do, run and hide? Words cannot describe how embarrassed I was.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo! OMG!" Marlene said. "You have your belly-button pierced, too? Wow- I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff!"

"Uh…haha…sure…" I awkwardly stepped away from the mirror and went to my closet. Fearing that Marlene was still watching, I closed the door behind me. I was ready to die.

I grabbed a pair of striped, navy-blue and white pajama pants and a white t-shirt. I stood in the closet for a minute and wondered just why I decided to flex in that mirror.

Before I knew it, Lily and I were sitting in Marlene's dorm with all of her friends, playing truth or dare… in teams.

"Lily and Emi. Truth or dare?" Marlene asked. Before I could even so much as turn to Lily and discuss or decision, she answered.

"Dare." Lily said. I narrowed my eyes at her when she wasn't looking.

We'd chosen truth every time, and oddly enough, none of the other girls could ever ask us anything… life-threatening. I knew Marlene or the others could dare us something life-threatening, though.

"Alright…" Marlene thought for a moment. She turned to her partner and they whispered a few things. "I dare you, Lily, to act like you love Sirius tomorrow, and you, Emi, to act like you love James." Marlene smiled deviously.

Lily's face grew red for a minute and she clenched her fists.

"Fine. Okay." She growled. I just sat there awkwardly and nodded slowly.

How was Sirius going to act when he saw me flirting with James, especially after the way he treated me today? Oh Lord. How's James going to act?

My life is weird.

"Okay, it's your turn!" Marlene said.

That next morning, Lily and I went to my dorm to change and get ready for the day.

Lily and I took our showers, brushed our teeth, and put on some make up.

Lily wore a dark yellow scoop-neck and capris with a pair of brown flip flops. I wore an aqua V-neck and capris with a pair of black flip flops. I have been looking forward to summer weather since, like, the end of last summer. I love fall colors, but… I don't know. I'm just happy it's finally summer time!

After we got dressed, we made our way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

We sat with each other at the Gryffindor table, waiting for James and Sirius.

"Lily, I'm sorry I have to be in love with your boyfriend." I said.

"I'm sorry I have to be in love with your crush." Lily said, cracking a smile. My face turned a little red.

"I'm telling you, mate, black would make you so much more sophisticated." I heard Sirius say to James as they walked over to our table.

"I don't see how a color can change your personality." James said honestly.

"Oh, Godric. Never mind." Sirius sighed goofily. He sat down beside me, and James sat beside Lily. He kissed Lily's cheek and smiled.

"Good morning." James said happily.

Sirius winked at me.

"Morning!" he said. He gave me a half-hug and I tried to keep the butterflies in my stomach still.

"Hi, Sirius." Lily said eagerly. Sirius smiled at her.

"Hello, Lily. How're you?" he asked politely. Dang his charm.

"James?" I asked suddenly.

"Yes?" James said, snapping out of his intense focus in Lily's conversation with Sirius.

"Can I sit by you?" I asked hopefully.

I couldn't flirt with James like I do with Sirius. It's so unnatural that it's impossible to do. So, I decided that I'd be kind of weird and try really, really hard to be goofy about it.

I twirled a piece of hair around my index finger and pursed my lips. James gave me the weirdest look, but as long as I was having fun being goofy, then I didn't care.

"Uh…sure…" James replied awkwardly. Lily had already come and sat beside Sirius, so there was an open seat beside James. I sat beside him, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sirius frown.

"So…how are you?" I asked, scooting closer and closer to him until I was finally tight up against him.

"I'm alright." He said.

"That's good." I smiled. I looked up at him. "You know…uh…" I thought for a minute. "You look cute today…" I said, my words coming out as a question. To make up for the pause, I started drawing on his back with my fingers.

"Haha…Thanks…" James said, sitting up straighter and shivering. He glanced at Sirius unsettlingly.

"Aren't you gonna tell me how _I _look today?" I asked.

"You look…nice?" James smiled unsurely. "I…like your hair." He added.

"Thanks. I like your hair, too." I said, twirling a lock of James' hair around my finger a few times. James was horribly uncomfortable, by now. We were both quiet for a few minutes.

"James, do you think I'd be a good kisser?" I asked in a dreamy sort of voice.

"Okay, okay- what's going on with you two?" Sirius asked Lily and I, looking at me.

"Yeah…This is weird. My girlfriend is flirting with her best friend's crush." James said. He could barely finish before Sirius went on. My face turned bright red- I could feel it.

"You should be flirting with me, like that!" Sirius complained, nodding to me. For a second I felt relieved because I thought Sirius hadn't even heard what all James said. But I guess the relief was on my face, because he immediately smirked. "After all, you _are_ supposed to flirt with your crush, right?"

My forehead hit the table and I sighed. Lily laughed, and James and Sirius traded places.

"It's a dare." I said, sitting up as Sirius put his arm around my waist and pulled me up against him.

"I dare you to flirt with him." James said flatly, motioning to Sirius.

I put my arm around Sirius and kissed his cheek. His face turned twice as red as Lily's hair… But then, as always, he had a burst of confidence.

"Hey, good looking." I said

"You do realize that I'm totally going to be as affectionate as I was yesterday, don't you? Go ahead, flirt with me some more." Sirius grinned.

"Ah, I'm good." I said. "And I'm busy today, anyway."

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Hiding." I replied.

"From me?" he asked, surprised.

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"Just go out with me." Sirius sighed, throwing his hands up.

"No thanks." I said, patting his hand.

"Why? I swear, I would be the perfect boyfriend for you!" he said persuasively.

"Because." I answered.

"Because why?" he whined.

"Because because." I looked up at him for a second and tried not to laugh at the irritation on his face- I was that same look a little boy would give you if he couldn't get a toy.

"Agh! Let's just go to Hogsmede or something." Sirius gave up. James and Lily were watching us with devious smiles. I cocked a brow. "I'll take you shopping."

"Okay! Let's go!" I said excitedly, standing up.

James, Lily, and Sirius all stood up.

"We're gonna go get our purses. Stand here and don't move, boys." I said.

"If you said that you would take Emi shopping, doesn't that mean that you're buying?" I heard James ask Sirius as we walked away.

"I think she knows. Aren't you taking Lily shopping, mate?" Sirius asked. James was quiet after that. I laughed along with Lily. It's not like we'd let anyone pay for our clothes. That would be like robbing them.

Lily followed me to my dorm so I could get my purse, and we stopped by her dorm to get hers.

Sirius held his arm out, which I gladly took.

"Between you and me, Em," he whispered, "you're a marvelous kisser."

My face turned beet red at his referral to the last question I asked James earlier. Sirius only smirked, and deep inside I felt like I was seriously on fire.

Later that day, Lily and I had Sirius and James carrying all of our bags and boxes. Sirius didn't mind, but James was constantly whining about how heavy everything was.

We stopped for a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, mostly so James would be quiet.

Marlene and a few other people were at the table in front of us, and they hadn't noticed us come in.

And I think Lily and I were both eavesdropping on their conversations.

"I swear, if I don't get that part, I will be _sure_ to _ruin_ that play."

A/N- Uh-oh! Chapter 29 will be here soon! Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, again! Thanks for reading! Review if you like!


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